Swirlyhues Challenge at Swirlydoos.com

Things over at Swirlydoos are crazy right now! So crazy that we just got our September kits!  Why is this such a big deal you ask? Well there is this new challenge called Swirlyhues. It's open for anyone who wants to participate. Requirements are that you use the sketch and only the colors they specify but we are also allowed to use black and white in moderation. The colors were inspired by the kits that we hadn't received yet. So I got to make my own kit from my existing stash! This was loads of fun. It's not due until October and I could have waited until I got my kit...but where's the fun in that?!

Here is the storyboard for the challenge so you can see the sketch and palette I had to use.

This is the finished piece. The title is Skate like no one is watching. This is a photo of my oldest son skating on his rip stick at a 4th of July party this year. The smaller photo on the right is a few years old but it's still my baby.

 Here is a close up of the flower cluster. I made these with my Big Shot and torn out pages from a waffle cookbook! Didn't they turn out fabulous?!

 Here is a closeup of the TA chippy frame. It's misted like crazy but it has this patina to it where it looks like tarnished metal. It's so cool.

 Here is a closeup of the vine.  I made the vine myself with stuff from my stash and an online tutorial. I painted one of the pearls with gesso and covered it in smooch to get the seafoam green color that was required.

 Part of the challenge was to use techniques from the Swirlydoos site. Here is a rusty hinge and paper distressing based on their tutorials.

I wanted to show my leaves off because they are crocheted leaves that I made! While I was off for my surgery my mother came over and taught me to crochet so I could make flowers and leaves for my scrapping. I painted them with TA Glimmer Glam so they would go better with the LO. 

That's my scrappy LO. Blogging a day earlier than usual. Who's a rebel now?! Can you handle it?

I got ink WHERE?!

Happy Friday! That's right I'm blogging again and back on track. This is twice in one month! *shocked face*

After the pages I sent to my sister I just couldn't resist, I had to make one for myself. I laid everything out the night I completed her pages and had the plan already in my head. I knew what I wanted to add, spray, paint, glue...it was already finito as far as I was concerned. I finished the page in one afternoon...this is a record people.

I was painting, and spraying, and bending with pliers...I had a blast. That night while we were in the bathroom brushing our teeth my DH says "What do you have on your elbow?!"  I hold my arm high above my head while looking in the mirror and find walnut stain all over my elbow and the back of my arm! Nothin' but the sign of a good time if you ask me;)

Before we begin let me apologize for the lighting. This is a night shoot using my OTT light. The white piece on the right is only there to see the feather. It was getting lost against my black desk. Also, if you click on the pictures they do get bigger.

This is my masterpiece after getting ink WHERE?! I finally started to use some of the ephemera that I have been collecting (hoarding) over the years. A ticket here and card from there, a trinket from some hair gunk that I bought. I have boxes of this stuff and never use it. Here you can see I used a card from Liam's 8 wk check up with the dr. I used a ticket from when we all went to Mackinaw fort and the converse tag at the top is from a box of shoes that we bought Liam for his uncle's wedding. I truly have no idea why I haven't been using this stuff all along.

A close up of the tag

This is a piece of glimmer glass by TA. I used alcohol inks to stain it.

 The ticket is another piece of glimmer glass but this time I used glimmer glam and heated it. The gear is made with my usual technique but this time I used red paint underneath so the undertones would match the LO a tad better. Don't you love the dots on the feathers?

Here is a close up of the vine I made with pieces from the dollar store, a bag of feathers, and some flowers from the swirlydoos kit.

 The large clear piece is a giant button. I have had these for years and have a hard time using them. The chipboard is from the TA line. I sprayed with red glimmer mist and heated. Then followed up with some walnut stain to give it some grunge and topped it with gold brilliance ink. I love how the embossed area stands out with the ink against it. The yellow spray you see is Starburst from Lindy's stamp gang in marigold. You can't see it here but all this spray has a beautiful shine to it.

This pic is specifically for my dear friend. She gave me her old sewing machine when she decided to upgrade. Since I was scoping Goodwill an Salvation Army for a used one anyway I just thought this was the best gift ever. That was almost 6 months ago!!! I have never even taken it out of the case. I decided that this would be the page where I would finally sew with my new machine. It ran so smooth and did in only minutes what it takes me FOREVER to do. The watch is the other piece of TA chipboard. It's been inked and sprayed and heated and sprayed and inked some more. Then I layered buttons and metal and dimensional paint inside and covered it all in gesso. I am still experimenting Finnabair style. Once I find my own way with it I'll be able to do so many things. Again, thank you for the inspiration.

Have a wonderful week and whatever you do...don't be afraid to get your elbows into it!

Andipants

Curiosity may have killed the cat...but THIS definitely brought her back.

Good golly miss Molly...is it September already? If anyone is wondering why it took so long to post, let me enlighten you. 

Summer vacations were a blast. The hubby and I went on a motorcycle trip to Maine with my in-l aws for 10 days at the end of July (Do I hear a mini album in there somewhere). It was gorgeous and I have tons of really fantastic pictures. I'm still waiting for my in-laws to give me their pics.

The very next weekend after we got back, the hubby and I packed the kids up and headed to Tahquemenon Falls in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The kids had a blast. It was only a small weekend but I took just as many pictures as I did in Maine. The Monday we returned the kids started school. First day already and it was only the beginning of August. 

In addition to my regular hectic life, yours truly became the new tiger den leader of pack 173. I now have a boyscout, tiger cub, and WBLOS. Youth group started at church and being the insane psychotic that I am, both hubby and I volunteered to help with that. I think my head spins on a regular basis. 

So now that you are all caught up on my summer, let me catch you up on my scrapping. Little background info: My sister was in the military and overseas. It was the first Christmas without her, I missed her, and KNEW she was gonna miss the fam. So I found one of those incredibly cute little scrapbooking tins and made one up and packed it full of pages. My goal was one page per month but just guess how that went. Last year I gave her 6 pages for Christmas and every now and then I bust out a few more pages. Since she herself is an artist I started telling her about all my awesome new toys and her response was "make me some pages".

What a fantastic idea!! The pages for the tins are only 4x6 so if I mess up it will only be a little mess.  

This is the first of 2 pages. That's me, the hubby, and all the kids on Mackinac Island a couple of years ago. I ran the page through my Big Shot to emboss and then just went to town with my glimmer glam. I totally have to give props to Anna Dombrowski because she has been such an inspiration to my work lately. 

This is just a little bit different angle so you can see all the different iridescence and sprays on the page.

Here is a close up of the heated glimmer glam. I love the way it bubbles and texturizes when you heat it. The metal is actually scraps that my hubby gave me years ago from parts he was making.

And of course, my rusted chipboard. Still one of my favorite techniques. I added some TA Glimmer Mist in coffee shop while the distress powder was still wet and I LOVE the coppery look it took on.

This is my second page. My boys. Gotta give props to Kate Palmer for the dimensional paint that I used on the edges. Just fabulous stuff.

I used a combination of gesso, glimmer glam, glimmer mist, and hot glue to achieve this look along with a little moon shadow mist in a paint pot from Lindys stamp gang.

The title is stamped with a new set of stamps from my Swirlydoos kit. Yup, still at it! I love my monthly kits. I also love the way the Glimmer mist really blends the picture into the page.

Again, one more angle to show some of the iridescence on the page. I have to admit this is one of my mostest favoritest pages. The colors are so bright and just lovely. I sincerely hope my sister likes them. TTFN

Can you say Hiatus?

Yes my fellow scrapper/bloggers I have been on hiatus. In fact I haven't even touched my scrap stuff in the last 2 months at all *GASP*!!!

But fear not...I scrapped this labor day weekend and it was glorious. Waking only well after the sun has risen and crept oh so near to the noon-time apex, a lingering cup of coffee donning my lovingly cupped hand, and the luxurious feel of perpetual pajamas, I scrapped from the time the sun came up until the time I retired back to bed (yes still in my SAME pj's) and I loved every minute!

Not only did I scrap...I got to PLAY! I found glimmer glam at such a ridiculously low price that it was practically a steal...and steal I did. I went from one lonely jar of Tattered Angels Rustic glam to 11 glitter jars nestled snuggly in my distressed wooden tray. I glopped and heated and shmeared and spritzed and glued and sprayed and sanded and burnt (my skin that is) until I could no more.

What is the end result  you ask? Check back this Friday to see!

HA! Got YOu! I'm tired and going to bed. I have to upload the photos tomorrow. Au revoir.

Orange you glad I didn't say card?

It's been nothing but cards for the month of June with no scrappy, and July is not looking any better. My GF gave me some card kits that she had previously acquired and never used. I figured they would be quick easy ways to make cards. I HATED them! My cards looked mediocre and uninspired. Let's face it, I'm not a sticker person. I don't know how to use them effectively...until now.

I have to admit I searched online for some inspiration. Once I found what I was looking for, I didn't completely lift but the basic vibe is there. I prefer that anyway. Most of my mid-career scrapping stuff is not getting posted because it was lifted. I feel comfortable showing my own creations but when it's a carbon copy of someone else's it just doesn't feel right.

Back to the card!
This is the card I made for my cousin's open house.

As you can see, it's mostly paper layering and stickers but I was ecstatic with the way it turned out. There is some inking and stamping but I was short on time and so I was trying to rein myself in:) lol

 This is my cousin Rachelle. Isn't she beautiful? Her senior pictures were out of this world. The card was for her.

Here is my Aubrey Sue with my BFF's boa Earl. He is the nicest most gentle snake you have ever met. She has been grooming him to dance with for a while and although Earl loves people and loves to snuggle, he does not like to spin. This is not going to work in the belly dance world.

 Also while out at my BFF's house I thought it would be a great opportunity for photos with the kids. Her son is a graffiti artist and with all the outbuildings around their house she is able to give him a building that he can practice on. Makes a great background for pics with the kids. 

 I love the composition of this pic even though his eyes are closed.

 This final picture is a photoshop display. I took this in the graveyard behind the church when Nathan was baptized. Liam and Aubrey were standing back to back but I liked the look of her alone so through cropping and much creative photo shopping I was able to completely remove him from the pic. She is such a pouty Sue!

Summer Excuses

I never blogged in June?! Where on Earth did it go? My goal was at least 3 times per month. In all fairness I never scrapped in June either. I made father's day cards and graduation cards and birthday cards...and I am NOT a card maker...but I just feel that there is something to be said when someone makes something for you by hand. A little extra effort, a little extra "you are special to me" and I like to do that for those whom I love.

I had a blonde moment and didn't take pictures of the rest of my father's day cards...just my hubby's.

 This is the card that I made for my DH for father's day. It's done on a plain piece of kraft stock. I used the moonshadow mist paint pot in gossamer gold first and then sprayed TA mist in coffee, olive, and patina. I then used a clock mask from my Swirlydoos.com kit and inked with chalk pigment ink in dark brown to get the clocks. I then stamped with my new TA border stamps from the same Swirlydoos.com kit. I stamped the bird(Tim Holtz) and cut him out and layered him over some pieces from The Girls' Paperie by Margie (88 pieces for $1 at Mega Meet!) I sprayed the pieces for a more congruent look.

 Here's a closeup. I did the bird and paper pieces on ALMOST all of my father's day cards. I actually will have to get some pics and post my father-in-law's card because it was different and it rocks.

July 3rd we went to cookout at my BFF's house with her fam and have my DH teach me how to ride a motorcycle. My BFF's bike is smaller and easier to handle than the big bikes that we have. As you can see I have all the gear from riding...I just don't know how to drive...yet;)

 This is my DH checking out the overflow on the bike. I totally dig his style. Seriously love my man. That's not a bad thing is it?

 Here's another pic of yours truly once the DH let me pick up my feet. Yes, I'm still in first gear but I'm in control and that's the important part. Isn't the barn cool? Can you say picture op for the kids?!

Here's a closeup of me looking intense as I pass in front of the bunk house. Pink riding gear, you ask? But of course!

and for the grand finale....

Fireworks!

Liam

 Roman

 Colin

 Big Fireworks!

Happy Fourth of July everyone!!!

What if the world were powered by Steam?

This is the premise of steampunk. If you've never looked into it...google it! Steampunk is this strange combination of old west and modern cyborg wrapped together with a small bit of shabby chic. There is an entire subculture out there of steampunk.
Graphic 45 designed this lovely steampunk paper that I just had to have. One of my many acquisitions from the Mega meet. I adore it and I had a blast making this page.  This picture is about 6 years old. Nathan and I went on marriage revival vacation to Mackinaw and Tahquamenon and I am STILL scrapping those pictures. I wanted this one to be special because we don't have a lot of he and I together.

 For my birthday/mother's day/National Scrapbooking month;) I got a big shot die cutter along with the hardware findings and gears. I'm aging everything I do now! I love rusty hinges and rusty gears all over my pages. 

 The girl with the wings was so intriguing. She was in the center of this giant page and you just didn't want to cover her up...so I cut her out instead! She added a gorgeous element to my page that I otherwise would not have been able to achieve. I also used one of my gears as a mask for my sprays to just add a little something. The crown is a sticker from a Swirlydoos kit that was actually black and white. My new motto? Just add spray.

 Here is close up of the gears. I used layers and layers of foam to  create a multi-dimensional accent.

The bird is sprayed with mist as well as the roses. The roses are a piece of material purchased from Monamigabby.com  They come in different colors but I bought white so I could customize mine. (DUH!) The '06 stands for the year and the 4 inside the key represents the number of kids at that time. Silly, I know.

 The best part about this paper pack is all the different paper elements that were there to cut and layer all over the page. There are little bits peeking out here and there all over the page. These are the most fun to create.

 Here is a closeup of the bird cage. One of my most favoritest toys. If you look close you can see a blackbird on the girl's arm which is inside the cage. 

 These are some of my rosettes made with the scraps of silk from my belly dance teacher. They are ending up on almost every page I do now! I love these. 

Here's a closeup of the fussy cutting and also some little elements peeking out from behind her. 

I can't wait to do another page with this paper pack. This was just so much fun.   Happy memorial day everyone. Thanks for stopping by.