Been traveling

and we are off again in a few moments. Here are some photos of where we were this last week. I got my first dose of real humidity. It was beautiful.

I was in love with all the architecture! I would happily move into a beauty like this!

Or this.

It was certainly HOT!

Incredible church doors.

Have a beautiful day!

Two layouts for the gift album

I made two layouts last night for an album I started for our niece who turns one tomorrow. I only have four layouts in there, but I will add as time goes on. I used sketches for both of these layouts. Sadly, I cannot remember who made this sketch or where I found it, so if you recognize it, please let me know so I can give appropriate credit to the artist. If it is yours, please accept my apologies in advance for this oversight.

I have blurred the faces to protect the innocent and because I haven't received permission from the subjects to publish their image. I worked with Pink Paislee papers, Bazzil card stock, Jenni Bowlin banner stickers, and a Dear Lizzy journaling tag. The burlap flower, (LOVE it!!!), is K& Co with a Jenni Bowlin chipboard button, Heidi Swap bling, and some ribbon and yarn scraps. The chipboard "Love" sticker is something I don't recall and the gold coin is from Monterey's Cannery Row. The yellow dot ribbon and the funky green fiber are from my stash and I haven't a clue where I found them.

I really liked the simplicity of this sketch. I knew that I could put some busy patterned paper in it and it would speak volumes. This was not the paper I had in mind, but as quick as this layout came together and as much as I love the end result, that is all the matters.

Look at all that yummy color! K&Co patterned paper, Thickers alphas, Dear Lizzy ribbon, and My Mind's Eye die cut flower and acrylic overlay. The two yellow roses are made from the Dear Lizzy sticky back canvas paper and the longest strip behind the photo is the bottom edge from a Sassafras Lass paper that I had cut off on another project. The other strip is something I received in a RAK and the rick rack, which is one of my all time favorite fibers EVER, is May Arts, I *think* or possibly Maya Road. I have just a little bit left and would love to find a bunch more of it. It has the best texture, weight, and color saturation.

Hope you are getting your craft on today!

A picture heavy post

Here is what I have been up to for the last two days.

The top photo is of stamps sets that I have been trying to organize and catalog and the bottom one is of inks, embossing powders, and extras. I was generously gifted with an incredible stamp collection over the weekend and I have been integrating it.

Now, on the crafty side, here is a LO I did last night. I had to use the Martha Stewart butterfly punch.

I canNOT wait to see this little girl soon! It will be the first time we have met in person, but I am already madly in love.

Last but not least, I promised to show you more of the inside of the Eclipse mini featuring the Punky Sprouts album. 

Okay, back to those stamps!

Eclipse Mini!

Here are a few pages of the Eclipse mini I just finished using the Punky Sprouts album from my June For The Luv Of Art kit. I LOVE how this turned out!!! I made some new flowers for this book, using a scalloped punch and the paper towel I used to wipe up the excess Glimmer Mist every time I sprayed something for the book. I also made my own masks for the pages.

This is just a sneak peek because as I was going through the pictures, I noticed a few pages needed something more, so I am going to return this to the scrap room to further embellish those pages I overlooked and then I will show the entire book.

I used the kid's meal toys that I have collected from Burger King to further embellish the album.

Beware! I even journaled in this book!

So there are some sneak shots! I will be back Sunday to post the rest! I am off to the Central Valley of California, where I will be dealing with 101 degree temperatures! Whew! Have a great weekend!

A first!

I have never done a Fourth of July layout before, which is odd, since I am a huge fan of Americana patterns and colors. Pink Paislee's Starlight line, Maya Road's new Star Trinket Pins, and these photos of my niece in red, white, and blue finally changed that. I had started this layout last week, but wasn't really feeling the design, so I set it aside. I am so glad I did. Paper Poppy Kit Co announced their sketch of the month and it was perfect! I wasn't really looking to play in a challenge, but this sketch spoke to me.

I played with two patterns from the Starlight line and added a sheet of yellow Bazzill dotted card stock. There is also 7Gypsies gaffer tape, Pink Paisless Starlight sticker banner, Thickers gold letters, and Jenni Bowlin sticker letters and stars.

I colored the Maya Road Star Trinket pins with Copic and Stickles, then added them to the MS rosettes and a random piece of left over ribbon to make a bunting like embellishment. The "4" card is something I won in a RAK and I love how it looks with some yellow My Little Shoebox letters.

The bling on the rosettes is from a Melody Ross/ GCD Studios kit that happened to be laying on my desk while I was making this. 

Ahh..some dimension! Makes me so happy! 

I am going to journal the tags with "yesterday," "today," and "tomorrow" themes, telling Miss Cady-bird about the sacrifices of generations before us, what we have today, and what I hope her tomorrow brings in the Land of the Free. 

Summer of Unfinished Business

That is what I am calling one of my new endeavors. I have a ton of projects floating around the house that are in some state of completion, but haven't attained the "Finished" seal of approval yet. So, my idea is that this summer, for every new project I start, (layouts excluded), I must finish one of the unfinished ones.

Since I started a new mini over the weekend, I decided I needed to pull out a project that has been hanging around the studio since last fall. I am happy to say I completed it, finally! While I cannot show you the pictures of the project without some distortion for my own protection, I will tell you that it is two 5x7 canvases that I painted, then Modge Podged the background onto, I used sticky back canvas for my subjects, old lace, dyed and Glimmer Misted around the edges, a bat beaded strip of decorative embellishment ribbon, and the inspiration that started it all is the Buzz and Bloom flower strip along the bottom.

Last summer I was looking at this strip in it's raw chipboard like form, wondering how to use it when my genius mother mentioned they reminded her of a certain film I loved as a child and the inspiration hit. The canvases and the flowers sat in my studio, painted and waiting all fall, winter, and spring while I tried to pretend they weren't there.

Sunday, I got to work and finished them this afternoon. They are a pair, meant to hang side by side, and they are also a gift for a dear lady who also loves this film. I am pretty keen on how they turned out and hope that she likes them as much as I do.

Now, I do not have to pretend to ignore this project. It will soon be on its way to a new home, in all its finished glory. Sadly, this is a small step on the list of unfinished projects, but it is a step. I will be back later with photos of the mini album that I completed. The Stickles needed to dry and now it is way dark.