if you believe you can…

24 Friday May 2013

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This Art Journal page didn’t turn out as planned however, since I didn’t have a real set plan in mind anyway I guess that was to be expected!

I started by just spraying some new mist colours and then layering stencils over. Then I went to a new project.

I came back and misted the “if you believe” stencil but it didn’t stand out like I wanted it to so I traced the words with my Sakura blue Stardust pen. Still no good. So I left it again.

This time when I came back I used Golden Light Molding Paste over the stencil and that did the trick! Until I wanted a punch of black and got overspray on the molding paste. Sigh. But the dimension is still cool.

I just threw my hands up at this point and called it done – let’s move on already!

I do love the sentiment though:

Even if this is a hot mess, it was a fun hot mess to make!

Things on Thursday…

23 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Sara in Things on Thursday...

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Big Picture Classes, ICAD, Things on Thursday

1. I’m sure most of you have heard of/seen this video about Zach Sobiech. Even if you’ve already watched it, it’s worth another view.

2. Donna Downey is up to 30,000 Facebook fans and so, as a thank you, she has done a free mixed media video. Of course it’s awesome, so go take advantage and enjoy!

3. I just signed up for this Big Picture Classes workshop taught by Claudine Hellmuth. I love BPC (their classes and workshop are great) and I love Claudine Hellmuth (such a fun style) so I’m really looking forward to this class!

4. Another year, another ICAD (Index Card a Day)! Last year I managed to get 52 of the 61 done – this year I’m determined to do them all plus the ones I missed last year! I love this challenge, it’s a great way to play with new product, learn new techniques and just have fun. Plus, the Flickr group is incredible!

5. Jennifer at Simple Scrapper has just announced a great new summer class – and it’s FREE!

Plus, when you sign up for this 4×6 mini album class, you get videos on how to put it all together and complete it this summer, and the option to get Jennifer’s Summer Stories Toolbox of digital stamps and brushes. Let me just say – get the toolbox!

Don’t you love the font choices?!?

Drawer of Memories

22 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by Sara in Classes, Mixed Media, Techniques

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7 Gypsies Library Drawer, Class, Mixed media

I’m teaching a class tomorrow night (UPDATE: We’ve had to move the class night to June 4 so you still have time to sign up!) and I think this is going to be one of my favourite projects yet!

I’m calling it the Drawer of Memories:

We’ll be using the 7 Gypsies Library drawer with monthly dividers plus adding additional 4×6 tabs and cards. Everyone will go home with a beautiful drawer ready to fill with pictures and snippets of journaling plus I’ll be sending along the .pdf of journaling cards so you can add to it for several years!

The main part of the drawer that we’ll be working on are the seasonal dividers:

Each one uses a different technique and product so if you’re looking to learn more about the supplies you already own or if you want to try some new ones before you buy, this is the class for you.

Luminarte Radiant Rain Mist

Dylusions Ink Spray and Heidi Swapp ColorShine

Distress Stain & Multimedium

Luminarte Primary Elements

Although the original idea was to use this drawer to write a single journal line each night and continue that for several years, I can really see it being a different type of mini album.

The first year of your baby’s life? Your first married year maybe? Or a way to document a first or last year of school? A few words, a bunch of pictures and you have the perfect display piece for family and friends to look through.

The ideas for this drawer really are endless and I’m so excited to see what you are all going to do with them!

Hope to see some of you at class – it’s going to be a memorable one!

You Make me Happy…

16 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Sara in Family, ScrapBook

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Amy Tangerine, Scrapbook Layout

Another LO from the Paperie retreat last month. With this one I wanted to use the Capture stitching templates from Amy Tangerine and my sparkly floss. It was a perfect combo for the sun and cloud design!

I had these pics of Molly and Gabe coming home from my neighbour’s house that I knew had to make it on a LO at some point and they seemed to work well with the patterned paper I had and the stitching I wanted to do.

I love how the glitter thread turned out!

And the wording on the patterned paper was perfect, it was exactly right for these photos – I popped up the main one to help it stand out:

A simple but fun one, the stitching and thread added a bit of something special to keep it from being too dull and flat while the patterned paper helped to ground the photos. And of course, I had to add a little stamping to the top left and bottom right corners – I tried to leave those corners empty but I think it’s beyond me, that’s definitely my calling card these days!

Look at me, look at me, look at me now!

14 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by Sara in Classes, ScrapBook

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7 Gypsies, Classes, Scrapbook Layout

While at the Paperie retreat last month I managed to do a bunch of LO’s – way more than I usually do. Some were already started (from the KP weekend) so just need pics to be finished off, some were demos (showing the Primary Elements) that I wanted to complete, and others were from scratch.

This one is from the exclusive retreat kit that the Paperie sold – they did a scrapbook kit and a card kit (yes, they’re starting a bimonthly card kit!) and the stuff in both was awesome!

The scrapbook kit had 12×12 paper that could be cut into tags and, while I always love that type of paper, I find that I use one or two tags and that’s it. This time I was determined to use the whole sheet. So it became my background!

For a bit of colour contrast, I rolled the edges of the paper I used to mat and ground my photos because the “B” side was a good pop to the “A” side pattern. And the Prima alpha stickers that came in the kit? Fabulous! They’re a mistable fabric resist that I just had to colour with the new Dylusions Ink Spray.

I also used the same colour, Calypso Teal, for the letters in the title.

A bit of a crazy LO but the fun wonkiness seemed to fit with the crazy Gabe pictures!

I’m hoping to get a sneak peek or two out in the next day or so of an upcoming class. This is going to be a great ongoing project, but all the work is done for you! It’s a 7 Gypsies Library Drawer and we’ll fill it with written and photo memories. The nice thing? You can do it for a year, or three, or just one special event! Sign up, I promise you won’t regret it! Plus we’ll be playing with the new Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs, Luminarte Primary Elements, and Radiant Rain Shimmering Mists! Make sure you follow me on twitter and instagram so you get the peeks as soon as I post them!

P.S. By request, I’m going right now to upload Ella pictures to Flickr!

12 on Thirteen | May 2013

14 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by Sara in 12 on Twelve

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12 on Twelve

Yeah, so my anal retentive nature just wouldn’t let me do a 6 on 12 that only had pics from a small portion of the day. So here’s the 12 pics that I took yesterday to make up for it!

1. my monthly selfie

2. a Mother’s Day flower from Miss I when she came

3. Ella

4. birthday cake “baking” in the sand crab

5. “Stop taking my picture!”

6. chalk everywhere

7. homemade potato chips with smoked sea salt

8. walking Molly to school

9. Uncle Graham helping with the Lego building

10. swimming lessons

11. new sunglasses for Gabe

12. Rosie

I’ll be back later with a “real” post so you don’t have two 12on12’s back to back!

12 on Twelve (sort of) | May 2013

13 Monday May 2013

Posted by Sara in 12 on Twelve

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12 on Twelve

So I completely blanked yesterday and thought it was the 11th. All day. Until about midnight.

So I don’t have a 12 on Twelve for May – but I do have 6! It doesn’t cover the whole day, only a tiny little portion, but I’m going with it. If I feel like it during today I might do my twelve but for now, I’m letting six be ok for this month!

(viewing from left to right)

1. Graham and Gabe at Mother’s Day brunch, eating lemons.

2. Gabe posing at Freak Lunchbox before getting his candy fix.

3. Graham playing up for the camera while Gabe tries his hardest to ignore his uncle!

4. Gabe eating his toast creation – Strawberry and Raspberry jam, with Cheez Whiz and Peanut Butter.

5. Uncle Graham reading when we got home.

6. Me and my mom at brunch.

Hope all you moms, moms-to-be, and non-traditional moms out there had a great one yesterday!

Finally….

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Sara in Family

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Cats

I have a very photogenic cat – Ella. She poses for pictures and lets me take them whenever I want.

And then there’s Rosie. Not such a fan of the camera.

Until I caught her snoozing in Bunny’s bed earlier today:

Isn’t she pretty? I have a soft spot for my calicos!

A Day in the Life | April 2013

09 Thursday May 2013

Posted by Sara in Classes, Day in the Life, Project Life

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A Day in the Life, Ali Edwards

NOTE: Sorry for the delay in this post – could not get WordPress to upload a single photo yesterday. Sigh.

It occurred to me this weekend that although I try to do A Day in the Life each month, I never post the pics here. And since it’s a time-consuming, photo heavy taking day, I thought I should share some of what I capture.

Here’s a few from April:

7:37am – Ella

7:53am – breakfast

8:10am – Molly off to school

9:13am – Instagram with Gabe

10:52 – getting ready for our walk

12:02pm – walking home from school

1:37pm – homework

4:12pm – self timer pics with Gabe

4:46pm – taking pics of retreat LO’s

6:36pm – evening bike ride

Simple Scrapper Blog Hop & GIVEAWAY | May 2013

07 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by Sara in ScrapBook, Simple Scrapper

≈ 6 Comments

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Scrapbook Layout, Simple Scrapper, Sketch Templates

The story starters and templates were amazing this month! I love them every month but there was something special about this set that I really enjoyed. Maybe it’s because I got to have fun with one of Gabe’s crazy pics or maybe it’s because my Mom did the journaling for the other. Either way, this is a great month to be a member!

And we’re doing a giveaway so make sure you use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter for a one month trial membership at Simple Scrapper! This is an awesome way to test the waters if you’re not a member yet. There are three ways to enter and three winners will be selected. To be eligible, you must enter by 11:59pm CDT on Wednesday, May 8.

My first LO is from this month’s templates and uses one of Gabe’s crazy face pics.

Since the picture wasn’t the main theme of this LO – his funny quote was! – I chose to minimalize the photo and make the title/quote really stand out by using an Amy Tangerine Stitching template. I was iffy while making it (and it was a lot of work to be iffy about!) but I love how it turned out:

I used a bunch of layers to mat the photo and make a space for my journaling tag:

The second LO was inspired by one of this month’s Story Starters and my mom provided the journaling and the title:

I used an awesome paper by Pink Paislee for this one – it’s a resist and when I misted it with some Heidi Swapp Color Shine the pattern popped and shimmered like crazy! I also used the mist on some Heidi Swapp hearts to get the same colour embellies with a different resist pattern, plus added enamel dots and glitter paper for more bling:

I had some awesome glitter letters but they didn’t show up on the background so I tinted them with the Color Shine as well:

And here’s my mom’s journaling – she was at home so I had to print it on the computer but I’m planning to get her to hand write it and add that to the LO:

Want some more inspiration? Check out the rest of the team – as always, they blew me away with their creations!

Simple Scrapper (Jennifer Wilson)

Lisa Corbin-Polak

Ronnie Crowley

Margrethe Aas Johnsen

Sara Case Strickland <– that’s me!

And finally, don’t forget to enter for a chance to win a free month of the Premium Membership!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/MjcxM2I1MjhjNmI4ZmY2MGNhN2NmZTI3ODk1OWVkOjU=/

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping. Each month members receive a new collection of sketch templates and Story Starters, story-focused prompts for pages and projects. Want to work with our collections for FREE? Simple Scrapper is having a call for new team members.