366 Art Journal/Calendar - Jan/Feb

YAY! I kept up with the January calendar every day and my February page is ready to go! If you are unfamiliar with this project, see my original post here.

So here is the January calendar completed:

The full January spread:

Here is February scrapbook side:

February calendar side:

and the full February spread:

At the suggestion of a fellow blogger, I have added a "follow by e-mail" request button to my side bar. Since I do not post every day, instead of checking in, you can submit your e-mail and you will get a message on the days I have a new post.

Thank you for looking at my blog today! I truly appreciate your comments and input!

Fabulous Friday at Frosted Designs

This week at Frosted Designs we have a recipe challenge for you!

3 patterned papers
2 buttons
1 word title

Here is my layout:

One of the purposes at Frosted Designs is to use your stash, well, I can certainly say that I rarely buy any new product and this layout is proof positive - the paper is Scenic Route Loveland collection from at least 3 years ago, probably more like 4 or 5. It is really pretty paper though, the colors are very rich. The buttons I used are vintage, picked up from the button bin at the thrift store. Felt flowers are Queen & Co, other flowers and leaves are Prima, pearls are Basic Grey, distress ink is Ranger, and heart trim is from Michaels.

This page will be the left side of my February calendar. I will post the right side and my completed January calendar next week. You can see the original post about this calendar here.


I hope you are inspired to make a layout or other project using the recipe and link it up at Frosted Designs for the chance to win! The prize this week is THREE paper packs by Graphic 45 = holy wow!

Thanks for looking! I appreciate your comments!

http://www.frosteddesigns.blogspot.com/

Scrabble Tile Shadowbox

I did not create this awesomeness - my daughter Sandy did and I didn't want my followers to miss out on it!
It was a gift for my mom and is the surname of my parents, their children and grandchildren. If you leave lovely comments for Sandy, I will pass them on! Thanks for looking!

Frosted Designs DT call!

Hey all you fabulous papercraftin' friends!

Frosted Designs is having a Design Team call!

I am staying on the team for the next 6 month term but some of the girls are stepping down so there are open slots!

It's an awesome team to be on 
so give it a whirl!!
Applications are being accepted 
until February 10th.

Here are the details: Frosted Designs DT Call

Scrabble tiles

 ok, I admit it, 

I drank the Scrabble Tile Kool-aid !!!!!

 Whoever started this craze is right, they're so cute and fun to play with! I WILL be using them in my projects, I promise. In the meantime they are fun to collect and decorate!

At the suggestion of a fellow blogger, I have added a "follow by e-mail" request button to my side bar. Since I do not post every day, instead of checking in, you can submit your e-mail and you will get a message on the days I have a new post.

 I shared this post at Life Made Lovely Monday - check it out!

Thank you for looking at my blog today! I truly appreciate your comments!

Fabulous Friday at Frosted Designs

This week's Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs is to use paint. Here is a page from my art journal on which I've experimented with paints called "Pan Pastels".  The flowers and leaves are done using Pan Pastels, the black highlighting is done with Copic marker. The paint is creamy and lovely to work with and the colors are amazing! Imagine my delight when I discovered that the Staz-On ink I pounced through punchenella is exactly the same colors! The image transfer in the upper left corner and the tag in the lower right corner are by KandCo. The base is an old map and the alphabet stamp is by The Stamps of Life. Rub-ons and brad from my stash.
I hope you are inspired to try using paint on a project and share it with us at Frosted Designs!

 

Thanks for looking! I appreciate your comments!

366 Art Journal/Calendar - January

I think that I am basically a generous, thankful, creative person and these things run as part of my base personality all the time. However, I decided that this year I need to bring these things to the forefront and consciously make sure that every day I am purposefully generous, thankful, and creative. I found the perfect vehicle to help me with this quest - I am joining Kate at The Kathryn Wheel this year for her 2012 366 challenge.

This book will be a year in the making and will be 

a hybrid Scrapbook/Art Journal/Calendar. 

My theme for this year is 

"Be Generous, Thankful, and Creative Every Day"

Here is my cover:

My book is 9"x12" and really is rectangular - the pictures look all wonky because when you add layers and layers of paint, paper, and decoupage medium the paper no longer lies flat!  Each month will have a calendar page on the right and a scrapbook style page on the left. The calendar page will have a box for each day to write something in for that day. At the beginning of the month the blank calendar page will be posted and at the end of the month the completed page is posted along with the blank for next month. These all get linked up at Kate's site, there are already 96 people participating this year! Hopefully we will all get to visit a few of each others blogs for inspiration and to leave encouragement.

The left side of my January page is not really scrapbook style, the idea hadn't really gelled in my head yet, but it's really pretty! It contains definitions cut from an antique dictionary of my three key words.

My other month's I do intend to do the left side scrapbook style.

So here is the left side of January:

And the right side of January:

And the spread together:

At the suggestion of a fellow blogger, I have added a "follow by e-mail" request button to my side bar. Since I do not post every day, instead of checking in, you can submit your e-mail and you will get a message on the days I have a new post.

Thank you for looking at my blog today! I truly appreciate your comments and input!

Christmas page in art journal

Oh my, it's taken me so long to post!  I lost my camera sometime between Christmas and New Years Day. Fortunately, I had moved the pictures from Christmas day on to my computer so at least they are not lost. I realized on New Years Day that the camera was missing and I have been searching for it with no success. I found an old camera so was able to get a few pics to share with you.
Today, before Christmas is long forgotten, I want to share this page I made in my art journal.

Later in the week I will share a new project I've started!
Thanks for looking! I appreciate your comments!

Frosted Designs - something new

The Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs this week is to try something new. My friend Cindy pinned a really cool cut and folded star made by Krista on Pinterest and I just had to make one myself. Krista's tutorial is here. 

I used my very most favoritist seasonal paper of all time "Laurel Leaves" from the Basic Grey Wassail line. I used 4" squares of paper so my star is quite large (about 11 inches tall and 2 inches deep). I think it would be really cool to make it much smaller and more intricate. We'll see if I ever get around to that! 

Anyway, here it is, and we'd love it if you try something new and link it up over at Frosted Designs this week!

Gift Tags

Here are some of the gift tags I made this year.
The fronts are the snowman faces and the backs have the names.

I am using wrapping paper that is royal blue background with light blue and white snowflakes and my tags look super cute on it.

"Oh Holy Night" Tag

Just for fun and pretty!

Fabulous Friday at Frosted Designs!

The prompt for the Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs this week is "Music/Song". As a member of the design team, it was my turn to create a project other than a layout or a card for the prompt this week.
I chose to make a Christmas Ornament decoupaged with sheets of vintage music paper. I originally saw this idea by the very talented artist Julia Stainton here.

This ornament was fun and easy to make ~ be sure to check out my tutorial here. I hope you will join us in making a project, layout, or card with the theme "Music/Song" and link it up on the Frosted Designs blog. Our sponsor this week is JoysLife and the prize is a cute set of stamps!

I also shared this project at Life Made Lovely Mondays

Quinn's 2nd year mini

Well, baby girl had her second birthday last Saturday so I finished up her second year mini album. Here are the last few pages:

The rest of the album can be seen here.

Scrabble Tiles

I scored a set of Scrabble tiles in the cranberry color at a thrift shop for $3.50, then crafted them a happy new home!

Fabulous Friday at Frosted Designs!

Today's Fabulous Friday Challenge at Frosted Designs is to use a die cut! Easy peasy, right? and the Fabulous sponsor is Copic! Woot!

I recently received a die cut by Scrap FX and gorgeous Jillybean Soup papers in an awesome kit that I won and have used them for my design team project.

Here is the die cut and it's original packaging (isn't it adorable?):

Since the die cut is not white and I knew I wanted to color it with Copic markers, I covered it with white gesso.

I colored the tree with Copic Markers and also colored the grid for the window of the house. (YG06 - green, E47 - brown, R29 -red)

After I dry fit the papers for the roof and house, I decided I didn't like the window grid in red and painted it over with cream.

Here is the finished card:

I made it for my sweet aunt and uncle who recently put their gorgeous ten acre property on the market and moved to a much more manageable cottage in a senior community. I know this was a very difficult decision and transition for them and wanted to send them a little happiness.

I hope you will hop over to Frosted Designs and check out the other design team members projects, then join us in making a project using a die cut. Be sure to link it up for the chance to win an awesome prize from Copic!

Thanks for looking, I appreciate your comments!

"Blossom" a page from my art journal

Here is a new page I created in my art journal. I wanted to experiment with using ink over an embossed image.

 The quote on the tag reads:
" And the day came when the risk it took to remain tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom" - ANAIS NIN


I started by stamping the butterfly (CTMH) with VersaMark ink and heat embossing it with Zing white embossing powder. Then I started layering on Tim Holtz Distress Inks in the new fall colors. "Ripe Persimmon, Seedless Preserves, and Gathered Twigs" - now aren't those the yummiest names ever for inks? I just love how intense the colors are, and so versatile - see how dark they are on the tag but lighter on the page itself? Next I decoupaged a napkin on to the page - that is what all the pansies and writing are. Then stamps and rub-ons, more ink, and a final coat of Mod Podge. 
Thanks for looking, I appreciate your comments (and followers!)

Frosted Designs Color Challenge

First, I must say "Happy Birthday" to my mom!

The Fabulous Friday Challenge Color inspiration at Frosted Designs this week is a beautiful fall inspired montage:

I've created this card using Basic Grey paper for the background and shipping tags for the pumpkins. The pumpkins are colored with Tim Holtz Distress stains and ink and run through a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The leaves are Making Memories holly leaves with the points rounded off to make squash leaves out of them. I've added a CTMH brown pearl to each just for fun! The vines are rub-ons from my stash, not sure of the manufacturer.

I hope you are inspired to make a project using the gorgeous colors of fall! Link it up at Frosted Designs to be in the random draw for a fabulous prize from One Stop Card Crafts!

Frosted Designs Recipe Challenge

Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge this week is a recipe!
Use at least four of the following:
1. The color yellow
2. Ribbon or lace
3. chipboard
4. flowers
5. misting or inks
6. buttons
7. stickers
8. rub ons

My design team project is a new page in my art journal.
From the recipe I used these six elements: 
Yellow, Lace, Flowers, Ink, Buttons, Rub-ons.

Here are some close-ups: (click to enlarge)

I hope you are inspired to make a project using the recipe challenge and enter it at Frosted Designs by October 28th to be entered in the random draw for a fabulous prize from Prairie Bird Boutique!

Die Cut Heart Card

Stuck on U Sketches has a challenge up to use a die cut heart. At CKC Valley Forge last July, I purchased a set of four scalloped nesting heart shaped dies made by Lifestyle Crafts. This was the perfect challenge to try them out! I used Fancy Pants Designs paper and folded a base, then offset the die so the left hand side wouldn't cut, leaving me a fold for my card. Using the next size smaller die, I cut the center for the front of my card. I outlined some of the print with a gelly roll sparkle pen and added a flower and brad. I think it's cute!