Week in the Life and 12 on Twelve | September 2013

12 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by Sara in 12 on Twelve, Week in the Life

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So this year, Week in the Life with Ali Edwards falls in September. It’s this week, the 9th to the 15th. And that means 12 on Twelve falls right in the middle.

Since I’m documenting pretty much every second of our lives already, why would I still do 12 on Twelve?

Well, for me, they’re two separate albums – WITL is its own mini and 12 on Twelve is an 8×10 collage that I insert in my Keeping Track of Life (monthly PL) album. Although I had considered just running them together, I have decided to do both today – obviously I’m a crazy lady!

Of course, some pics will overlap but many won’t. For example, for 12 on Twelve I always take a selfie in the porch mirror; for WITL I take a daily full length pic. Also, some things I document for WITL are just not things I care about saving in my 12 on Twelve collage each month.

So tomorrow, I’ll post my regular monthly 12 on Twelve and later, once my mini album is completed, I’ll leave a link to the Flickr gallery where you can peruse the WITL pics, as if you need that detailed a look at my life! 🙂

Check back later today, I’ll be posting my first two LO made with the new September Card kit from the Paperie!

Winner! | BPC Picture Everyday

11 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Sara in Giveaway

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Big Picture Classes, giveaway winner

I’m so sorry – I forgot to pick a winner!

But I did and it is….

Carey B!!!

Please contact me by midnight EST, September 12 with your email at sarathings (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll send out the redemption information.

Congrats and enjoy!

BPC | Tracey Clark’s Picture Everyday {Giveaway}

05 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by Sara in Giveaway

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Big Picture Classes, Giveaway, Tracey Clark

I love the classes and workshops at Big Picture Classes and would recommend them to anyone – they are always well worth the price and the time invested.

That’s why I’m super excited to be able to give away a spot in Tracey Clark’s Picture Everyday class! Want to know more about it?

Class Description

Your life is full of beauty, authenticity, and moments of magic just waiting to be captured in pictures. All it takes is the right perspective. In Picture Everyday, a new workshop from photographer Tracey Clark, you’ll learn to see your world in a sublime new light—and to use your camera to tell the story of what you see.

Through 30 surprisingly powerful photo prompts, dozens of inspiring images and videos, and eight weeks of gentle encouragement, Tracey will help you elevate your everyday—and fill your soul with gratitude along the way. You’ll be focusing your lens on topics like Routine, Spaces, Places, Details, Connections, and Affections.

Read the rest of the description here.

Doesn’t that sound like a fabulous class? I can’t wait to get started, and once you watch the intro video I know you’ll be itching to do it too. If you’ve been wanting to take better and more meaningful pictures, you need to do this class!

To enter, just leave me a comment answering this question: What are your favourite types of pictures to take? You can get extra entries by tweeting about this giveaway (let me know you did!) or by following me on Twitter or here at my blog. Already a follower? Let me know and I’ll count it! The giveaway closes at 11:59pm EST Sunday, September 8. (giveaway now closed)

Good Luck!

Paperie Card Kit | July: Part 4

04 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by Sara in Card Kit, Mini Album

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Card Kit, Mini Album, The Paperie

Here’s the final piece from my July Card kit – in September! 🙂

I used the Simple Stories 6×6 paper and cut it in half, then folded to make a tiny 3×3 album.

Good Stuff

I love the stamp set that was included in the kit and that camera was perfect for a focal point on my front cover. I also used the speech balloon stamp throughout the whole book.

make your mark

My Donna Downey for Unity Stamp Co. stamps were the perfect size to fit in them and they were also perfect as quotes in a book for my daughter.

paint your dreams

I kept this super, super simple because I really wanted the sentiments to stand out.

know who you are

There were also a couple of great papers that said everything I needed to say with almost no other work.

be.

I also believe that no album is complete unless you put something on the back cover so I used the same stamp set to put a little camera on there.

If you want to see the whole album, it’s at the Paperie so you can fondle with your eyes, and hands, or you can check out my Flickr gallery for all the pages.

The new card kit is debuting on the Paperie blog Friday, so be sure to check that out – I know Wendy made some fabulous cards, as always!

GIVEAWAY!

03 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Sara in Giveaway, Simple Scrapper

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Paper Issues, Simple Scrapper

A little surprise post for you from Paper Issues today – a giveaway to the shop!

Just leave a comment here, “Like” Simple Scrapper and Paper Issues on Facebook, and don’t forget to link up to Paper Issues by the 7th with your LO from the sketch to win one of three prizes!

The sketch is fabulous, don’t you think? Click on it to get the .jpg sketch and .psd files.

Now leave a comment, do a LO, and go try to win – good luck! 🙂

Simple Scrapper | September 2013

03 Tuesday Sep 2013

Posted by Sara in Mixed Media, ScrapBook, Simple Scrapper

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Mixed media, Simple Scrapper

It’s the first Tuesday in September and that means I’m showing you all the DT LO’s I made for Simple Scrapper this month!

You’ve already seen this one:

It’s inspired by one of the September Story Starters – if you want to get more info on the exclusive sketch and see the detail shots, check it out here. That will also tell you about Paper Issues; Simple Scrapper is the sponsor for this month’s Issue and there are some great prizes to be won!

My second LO for the month isn’t really a LO at all – it’s a full calendar. I’ve been looking after this sweet boy for three years and Friday was his last day coming here. Every Christmas I make a calendar for the parents but I’ve started this one early, with the help of a September Premium Members Sketch!

I love how Jennifer’s templates can even work for non-layout pieces and mixed media!

Plus, it’s easily switched up for portrait and landscape photos.

Aimee and Arielle are also posting their LO’s today so be sure to check them out and while you’re at it, leave them a little love! Then come back here for the list of the whole team (on the right over there!) and check out the work they have posted on their blogs and in their 2Peas Galleries.

I promise to post the last of my July Paperie Card Kit in the next day or so; be sure look out for that – it’s a super sweet mini album! And on Friday, I’ll start sharing the September Card Kit, it’s awesome!

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.

Currently… | August 2013

31 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by Sara in Art Journal, Currently...

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Art Journal, Currently...

listening: to family – we’re all at the cabin and it’s loud!

eating: lots of ice cream – it’s my daily go to lately

drinking: chocolate milk and cold white wine (with ice cubes!)

wearing: summer clothes – loving my black sandals

feeling: overwhelmed with change – Liam is leaving, Hannah and Heidi are coming, and Molly is about to start Grade 1- full days!

weather: mostly beautiful but lots of rain the past week

watching: SYTYCD, Master Chef, & The Facts of Life – summer ‘13 is all about TFOL!

reading: Big Girl Panties, a recommendation from Krista’s blog

wanting: more summer, I’m not ready for it to be over yet!

needing: more creative time that’s just for me

thinking: about how I love my weekends away from home

enjoying: Art Journaling and drawing faces – who knew?!?

wondering: how different life will be next week once school starts

wishing: my babies would stay babies – they grow too fast.

Imperfection…

28 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by Sara in Art Journal, Mixed Media

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Art Journal, Face Sketch, Mixed media

I was playing in my Art Journal this morning, trying out gelatos (fun times!) and making a watery mess. Usually, once my background is done, I’m stuck.

Not so this morning, my friends!

I went to work on a face. And she was going really well…

Then, I messed up the mouth. And in trying to erase it a little, all the paper tore off. Now, let’s be honest here; if I was the patient type (I’m not) and if I had waited for the background to dry properly (I didn’t) I would have had some nice, dry cardstock to work on and none of this would have happened.

If trying to fix the mess of the mouth and torn paper, I destroyed her nose. Sigh. Seriously world? Come on already!

So I threw up my hands, grabbed a tag I had made, and stuck it over her mouth and nose. Problem solved! 🙂

A Donna Downey stamp, a line of journaling under that, and a bit of Payne’s Grey Golden paint (totally in love) over a stencil and I called it fixed and done!

Oh, and since I ripped her face apart, I gave her a fancy hair piece to kind of make up for it – do you like her golden feather? 🙂

I had an interesting conversation with a friend the other day and she said she didn’t like colourful backgrounds behind faces – she couldn’t get past the non-flesh colour. Making this I completely realized that what I like is the unusual colours, I don’t want flesh colour – I like the interest the background work gives the face. What do you all think? Do you prefer the norm or the oddball colouring?

I did make a double background so hopefully, when I go to work on the next page, the wet factor shouldn’t be an issue!

Paper Issues: Simple Scrapper Sketches | Blog Hop and GIVEAWAY!

25 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by Sara in Blog Hop, Giveaway, Simple Scrapper

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Blog Hop, Giveway, Paper Issues, Simple Scrapper

Hi everyone! A few of the Simple Scrapper girls are joining some of the Paper Issues girls in a fun blog hop for the new Paper Issues: Simple Scrapper Sketches!

If you’re hopping along or new here, welcome! You should have come from Kristine‘s blog – if not, or if you get lost along the way, go to Paper Issues for the full list.

We’re all using the same sketch and I love seeing how different our LO’s are – it’s so much fun to see all those varying interpretations of one simple template!

My LO not only uses Jennifer’s great sketch, exclusively designed for Paper Issues, but also one of the Simple Scrapper September Story Starters:

Anyone who follows me on Facebook or Twitter will already recognize this sweet girl – she went missing for almost a week a little while ago. The hidden journaling on this LO, along with a picture of Rosie the day after she came home, tells that story.

I used Jillibean Soup Alphabeans for the title, along with a Studio Calico house:

and then outlined the letters with my Faber-Castell Pitt pen.

Some layering and a Studio Calico wood veneer cat at the top to draw you in and I was done!

I love working with Jennifer’s sketches – they can be used as is so easily, but they always work when flipped or rotated as well. And when I’m stuck, they always get me creating again! Luckily for all of you, there are two giveways on this blog hop:

You can win either a free one month Premium Membership to Simple Scrapper or digital copies of Everyday Storyteller volumes 1 & 2! All you need to do is:

Like Simple Scrapper on Facebook {tell them Paper Issues sent you}
Like Paper Issues on Facebook
Leave a comment here!

To see more fabulous inspiration and get more chances to win, keep hopping! Your next stop is the Simple Scrapper blog. Enjoy!

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.

just be.

23 Friday Aug 2013

Posted by Sara in Art Journal

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Art Journal, Balzer Designs, Blazonry, Chevron Tiles, Dina Wakley, The Crafter's Workshop

While Dina Wakley was in town teaching in all her fabulousness last weekend we all got into a small conversation about Art Journaling – is it really Art *Journaling* if you don’t journal?

And I don’t journal – I play.

So I decided to push myself and start. I have actually added some journaling to almost all my pages and have enjoyed every second.

Then I took some of my unfinished pages and went to work on them. This is one of my faves – I love the background so much that it has taken me this long to cover it up! I always tell classes when I teach, “Don’t get attached,” and I got attached. It was time to bite the bullet and move on.

This is how it turned out:

I love that the background is still peeking through with some subtle colour:

And aren’t all those layers and doodles fun?

I especially like the pop of colour behind the Dina Wakley stamp – it really draws your eye to the figure and the start of the journaling:

I’m totally inspired to keep journaling now, and am more excited than ever to play and make a hot mess – after all, there’s always a way to turn it around!