Tuesday Techniques and Tutorials

18 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Tuesday Techniques, Tuesday Tutorials

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So, I’m back with the Tuesday Techniques after a summer hiatus but I’ve decided to change it up a little and have tutorials sometimes as well! Today is going to be a mini tutorial on my Project Life Album cover. Let’s hope it turns out because it’s the only one I have! 🙂

When I went to buy an album for Project Life, I had planned to get a really colourful leather one, but when I got to The Paperie, they had one more of these Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Camera Albums left:

To me, it looked like the perfect album for Project Life!

One small problem, I wanted some more colour – black and white is not normally my go to colour combination!

A little while ago I saw this post and video by Ronda Palazzari and I thought it was the perfect solution to my album cover! I didn’t use stencils, but I did decide to paint the cameras, some of them anyway.

I started by painting a few cameras with Titanium White Golden acrylic paint.

I wanted the colour to really pop so I needed a light layer beneath to cover the black, kind of like using primer on your walls.

It was a very thin coat and, as you can see…

…I wasn’t very particular about covering the whole area neatly. I only did three camera on each of the front and back covers and I liked the look so much that I was very tempted to leave it just like this!

However, I had it in my head that I wanted red cameras so once the white paint was dry, I broke out my favourite Twinkling H2O’s and used the Poppy colour to paint them in.

 Again, you can see that I wasn’t fussy about the neatness.

I like how the pops of red turned out, but I may add some more colour later. I’m still debating whether one colour is enough or not!

I’m planning to do a tutorial on how to make my one sheet, washi tape mini album next week. If there are any tutorials in particular you’d like to see, let me know!

S.

 

 

Awards

14 Friday Sep 2012

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So earlier this week I got a comment on one of my posts that shocked me. Miss Four Eyes, another blogger, nominated me for two awards!

To say I was floored is an understatement! It’s really an honor, Miss Four Eyes, to be on your list of five – I appreciate your comments, your likes on my posts, and your blog . You should all go check her out, she’s really quite funny and I look forward to the entertainment of her writing and life every morning!

Here are the blogs I have nominated for both awards:

1. Day Jobs and the NightLife.

This one is written by a room-mate and friend of mine from way back. He now lives in Montreal and writes about places to go in the area, especially food and drink places. The best part? He’ll give you recommendations if you ask! And one of his latest posts was a review of Raymonds,  a local restaurant here in NL he was lucky enough to be invited to review while home on holiday. I love his writing, and am generally drooling and hungry by the time I finish a blog post!

2. The Grumpy Goat Gallery

First of all, the art is fabulous! Bright, whimsical, and fun – this blog is worth checking out just for that. But it’s also hilariously funny! Cara and Pam are local NL artists who  live in a small community about an hour outside the capitol city. They own a menagerie of animals that includes goats and cats who are frequently the stars of the blog stories and might truly be humans in animal form. Really. Read their blog and you’ll understand, while laughing at the craziness of their days.

3. Candice Does the World

Candice is a travel blogger from Newfoundland and the title of her blog should give you an idea of her sense of humor. She is lucky enough to now have a job that doesn’t require her to be or live anywhere in particular and she takes full advantage of that fact! Right now, she is based back in NL, but that could change anytime, from what I understand! I met Candice briefly, just once, when Day Jobs and the Nightlife was home this summer but her blog makes you feel as if you could just sit down and have a drink with her like old friends!

4. Emily Lagore

Emily is someone I discovered on Instagram and she really is the most incredible artist. On Instagram, however, she posts her art journals and fabulous mandalas. I love her style, love her mandalas, and most of all, love how super sweet she is! She always replies to everyone’s comments and offers help and suggestions when asked. Go check her out for the eye candy, it’s worth it, and if you like watercolour paintings and portraits, have a look at her art website.

There are so many more blogs I could mention, but I also didn’t want to accidently leave someone out so I’m leaving it here. I will say that my biggest inspiration and the blogs I go to first every morning belong to my talented friends – you’ll find all their blogs on the right in my blogroll!

Another thing I have to do to accept these awards is to list 7 things about me:

1. Until last month I was a nail biter – since I’ve stopped, I’ve become a bit obsessed with nail polish. If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you are probably bored of the nail shots! 🙂

2. My best friend is tall, dark, and gorgeous, whereas I’m short and well… who knows what my hair colour really is anymore! But she’s been my bestie since we were 6 and I have some awesome stories about her. Whenever I drink lemonade, she pops in my head!

3. I love to sing – but only at the top of my lungs and when I’m alone in the car! Trust me, it’s better that I’m alone during these times….

4. I have one awesome brother who has a PhD in theorhetical physics and another who has a math honours and a fine arts degree in photography. They’re quite a bit different but very much alike and are best friends even though they’re 6 years apart – it’s very cool to see!

5. I love to teach. Maybe even more than creating itself, I love to teach what I know and what I learn and what I make.

6. I hate to cook. Really hate it. Having to make supper every night? Groan. But baking? I could do that all day! (Miss Four Eyes? I could make you a cake if you trusted me with your address! :))

7. My favourite candy are Gobstoppers. Yup, those ones from Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory. It drives my husband crazy that I insist on expensive handmade chocolate but will only eat cheap candy!

So there you are – my exciting and humbling surprise, 4 of my fave inspiring and lovely blogs (5 if you count Miss Four Eyes herself), and 7 tidbits about me!

Have a wonderful weekend and take some time check out the blogs listed here and in my blogroll – you won’t regret it!

S.

 

12 on Twelve – September

13 Thursday Sep 2012

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As always, I did my 12 pics for the day on the twelfth. I missed a couple of good ones – M hiding under the kitchen table because she didn’t want to go to school and the stencil class last night – but got an overview none-the-less….

1. Rosie, guarding the front door – she loves to hang out in the porch!

2. My standard 12on12 selfie.

3. Sending in my first Project Life pics for Week 1!

4. New super glittery nails – love them!

5. The boys making funny faces.

6. Showing off their stinky feet!

7. Slides are apparently for jumping off, not sliding down…

8. M home from school – she looked happier until she saw the camera! 🙂

9. Getting my first week of PL organized.

10. Starbucks to take me through class!

11. Joan finishing up in class. I was too busy to take pics during and missed some good shots!

12. New products were put out on the shelves at The Paperie during the class so I had to stock up before I came home!

S.

 

Project Life

12 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Project Life

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So, I jumped on the bandwagon.

With M beginning school last week, it seemed to be the perfect time to finally try out Project Life. I must be insane to put something else on my plate but I’d really like to document our lives and her first year of school, if possible. Let’s see how it goes – I think I’m already behind! Ha! 🙂

I’m going to let you know what I’ve done so far with regards to organizing and getting it all together, and I’d love to know what you do. Tell me what works and, more importantly, what doesn’t work for you! I need this to be as simple and quick as it can possibly be and, at this point, I don’t care if there are any embellishments in the finished  product or not!

My photos are already organized on my computer in a way that works well for me so I’ve left that alone. All photos go into yearly folders and are then sub-divided into monthly folders. When I view my photos, I always do it in the daily format so it’s super easy for me to see what days I need for the week and just look through those pics.

Once I’ve decided on the pictures I’m using, I drop them into a Project Life folder which again is then sub-divided into weekly folders. I choose my photos with my templates in front of me so I can decide how many to use, or if I need an insert for more. As I choose the photos, I write in the placement on the template.

From there I do (very little and probably terrible) editing in Photoshop, send them to be printed, pack up the kiddies, and go get them!

I cut and corner round them all, inserting into the slots as marked and then add the  Turquoise core kit items I want to use. And then basically, if I have no other time, I’m done. But this way I can just pick away at it when I get a minute here and there. No pressure, since the bulk is done and if nothing else gets added, I’m still ok with that.

Yes, it’s true. I’m ok with nothing but my pics and the dates. If I didn’t go into this with that mindset, I’d never keep it up!

The other thing I do during the week is an idea stolen from my friend Liz. This summer, since it was so busy, she kept a running Word document open and simply added to it each day. Genius! Journalling is the hardest and most hated part of this art form for me but this way it’s quick and easy and only takes a minute or two in the evening. I’m planning to simply print each week on cardstock and insert between the weekly pages.

Now, all that being said, I don’t have Week 1 finished yet:

…so we’re going to see if my big plans actually work in reality!

Wish me luck!

S.

P.S. It’s 12 on Twelve today – are you taking your pics and joining in the fun? 🙂

Clean and Simple Stencils

10 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in Classes, ScrapBook

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I love mist. I love the randomness of it and how it’s intense where you spray and then fades out – love it!

I also love molding paste – the dimension, the cool effect, the sharpness of the image yet it’s jagged on the top. Awesome!

But I know people who hate getting their hands dirty.

Yes, it’s true, there are crafters out there with clean hands, my friends! They’ll never understand the Julie Fei-Fan Balzer Dirty Girl apron…. Heck, they’ll never need one! 🙂

And so, for those people, and for those of you like me who can swing either way, I have a new class this Wednesday night!

Clean and Simple Stencils.

You can do it, you can stay clean, and I have two LO’s to prove it! Better yet, I incorporate at least 4 different techniques too!

If you haven’t signed up yet, this class is selling fast – call The Paperie ASAP to come join in the fun. If you can’t make it, we can get you a kit with instructions!

You know I love a big and crazy class so come on – what are you waiting for?

See you Wednesday! 🙂

S.

Index Card A Day – #52

10 Monday Sep 2012

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#52 – Enjoy the little things…

I’m finally back to finishing the last 10 ICAD’s from this summer! For this one I smeared light molding paste over a fun stencil, Bug Doily, and let it air dry. I then painted over it with my cheapie water colours paints, blending them together. Although I really liked the blending colours, I wanted a bright spot and that wasn’t happening so I misted the centre with Lemon Zest Dylusions Ink Spray and then blended around it again.

Over that I stippled watercolour paint through another stencil, Art Is, and painted the wood veneer stars. The sentiment is, of course, stamped over a premade background and cut out!

I love the texture of the molding paste, especially with the text over it.

And the addition of a quick spritz of Studio Calico Shine? Awesome!

I’ll have another post later today with the LO’s from my upcoming stencil class – stay tuned!

S.

Things on Thursday…

07 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by in Classes, Things on Thursday..., Uncategorized

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Yes, yes, I know it’s Friday (late on Friday!) but yesterday was a big day and it got away from me!

1. Miss M started school yesterday! There’s no pre-k here so it was truly her first day ever and she was uber excited!

Me, not so much… However, it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would and she loves it!

2. I’m starting Project Life. Yup, today is the last day of week one for me and I’m still not sure how to go about organizing it all. Please help me! Anyone who is doing this or has done it, give me your best tips – the things you’ve learned that work well and the things you’d do differently next time. In order for me to do this, I’m going to need all the help I can get!

Already I’m overwhelmed with the amount of content for this week alone: long weekend at the cabin, school starting, swimming starting for G… Go ahead, ask how many pictures I’ve taken!

3. I’m doing a new class at The Paperie next week and it’s all about stencils! Better still, it’s all about clean and simple stencils! So, those of you who hate to get your hands dirty (I know who you are!) this will show you how to use this great tool without getting mist under your nails! 🙂

4. I’ve started in on the last 10 ICAD’s I have left to make. I promise a blog post on Monday for the next one on the list!

5. I’m considering getting some stuff done from Printstagram – has anyone used it? Thoughts? Shipping and quality good? What size do you like?

The tiny books look neat and I thought they might make fun gifts for the kiddies at Christmas!

Have a great weekend everyone!

S.

She Art Girl #1

05 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by in Mixed Media

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So you all know how much I love the She Art workshops I’ve been doing with Christy Tomlinson, right? Seriously one of the top three online classes I’ve ever taken (this one by Jennifer McGuire and this one by Tim Holtz are the others).

Seriously though? 10 videos plus PDF’s for the first week of the first class. 10! And there’s two more weeks after that! Plus there’s a whole other class too!

Awesome.

Anyway, with all my love and excitement I was raring to go but had no canvas. Downer.

I finally got canvas…

… but by then I had watched a week and a half worth of videos and was now confused. I mean really, when you’ve never done something before you really should watch one video, practice the techniques, move on. Not me, my friends, I went to the cabin for the long weekend where there was no internet and so no videos and had to try to muddle along on my own.

Luckily, I’m a bit of a smartie 🙂 and did A-OK.

Then I came home. You see, I wanted rub-ons and I knew I had a stash. Gorgeous Basic Grey rub-ons in black and white, multiple packs of each just waiting for me.

So I turned the scrap cave upside down and no rub-ons.

I started having a very bad feeling that when I gutted a few months back those beautiful rub-ons made it into the giveaway pile (I was being ruthless). So I looked in the small bag I had set aside for M and sure enough, two packs of rub-ons – princess ones and flowers. Cute, but…. Yeah, not quite what I was looking for though I did manage to make some of the flower ones work for me.

And so my rub-ons are in the wind, waiting to be used by someone else. 😦

And then, I went shopping, like you would in this situation, and I found….. nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

Ok, so I lied a little. I found a pack at Dollarama.

Who wants to take bets they’re not going to come off like butter, as my BG ones would have? However, they are rub-ons and if I’m lucky, some will come off the backing sheet! Update: They didn’t stick to the backing sheet but neither did they come off like butter. They were…. ok. 🙂

Long story longer, here’s what rushing ahead in videos and a lack of rub-ons will get you:

I’m pretty pleased with her (though she does have some skinny legs)!

I used the quote, “She thought she could so she did,” because I thought it fitting for my first piece like this and also fitting for just jumping in with no backup instructions for guidance!

She had to have a flower on her dress since every time I showed her to M and asked if M liked her, she would say, “I won’t think she’s pretty until she has a flower in her dress.” Flowers in her hair and stars on her dress were not sufficient. Trust me, I tried!

Anyway, this one is mine and I love how she turned out. As Christy would say, “She’s a cutie!”

I have big plans for Christmas gifts and other things so let’s hope they work out. If they do, I’m going to have a couple of super cute gifts on my hands!

S.

Thrifting….

03 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by in Family, ScrapBook, Uncategorized

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We finished dinner early a few nights ago and I dragged everyone out with me to the thrift store with the promise of ice cream after.

And it was a good trip! Here are my finds:

…an old book to cut up, a great kid’s book for colourful backgrounds, some sewing patterns, and a bonus silver serving dish.

I love the kid’s book – fun and colourful for collage backgrounds and small enough patterns to blend in. The patterns were a steal, $0.69 for two, I should have bought another package…

And this book: 

…is awesome! It was printed in the 70’s so it’s got nice old yellowing pages with age and water spots and it has some fantastic pictures too. I apologize to anyone who loves Charles Dickens but I already have a collection of his works so I don’t feel bad at all. I could have gone with the copy of War and Peace but there were no pictures. I do, however, regret not buying the copy of Heidi – it had great color pictures in it. I think another trip is due to see if it’s still there!

And finally, I got this lovely piece:

…which I think is going to house my wood veneer shapes so I can easily rummage through them when needed.

As you can see from this picture:

…it’s time for some organization and cleaning in my scrap cave again which is why I picked up the dish when I saw it!

After my great luck, we headed out to Menchies for frozen yogurt and, if you follow me on Twitter, you would have already seen this tweet. Let’s just say that M was not impressed with mixing different yogurts, toppings, and sauces. Apparently, “It doesn’t look tasty anymore!” Let’s just say that we were very close to a total meltdown and I swore I’d never go back again. With the kiddies, that is!

All in all, it was an entertaining and productive night and I’ve already had a chance to use some of my goodies on a canvas. I’ll show that off later this week!

Hope you’re all enjoying the last long weekend of the summer – I know I’m not ready for it to be over yet!

S.

Things on Thursday – The Crafty Tutorial Edition

30 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by in Techniques, Things on Thursday..., Uncategorized

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1. I’ve started this online workshop by Christy Tomlinson and I’m *loving* it. Really so good – great videos, and tons of them, awesome PDF’s, and fabulous information. Have I mentioned that I love it? 🙂 I’m hoping to play a little this weekend and will post what comes out of it next week!

(Want to give Christy a “test run?” Check out this!)

2. This is a really neat idea for a canvas from October Afternoon. I never would have thought about putting the frame in the middle…. and I’ve done my fair share of canvases!

3. This is an awesome tutorial for a quick and fun back to school project. Simple enough that if you have kiddies they could help but cool enough to do for yourself – whether you’re in school or not! 🙂

4. Here’s another awesome one from October Afternoon. This one shows you step by step how to cluster embellishments so they look good – easier said than done! Love seeing how they build it all up!

5. Finally, this one is more artsy-craftsy in nature but come on people, rectangular snowmen? Love! I have plans for embellishing them a little more and if I actually have the time to do some, I’ll show you how they turn out!

S.