Two-fer Tuesday

I haven't been scrapping much or even thrifting much lately. I have been reading. A lot. I realized that I finished four books in the last five days, including the Hunger Games trilogy, which I am still digesting.

I have made the following two layouts in these past few days, both featuring new lines from CHA-S.

Featuring Amy Tan's line with American Crafts. This is the second layout I have made with this line and I have to say, her style so meshing with mine. I LOVE the color blue in this line. I had to scrap this photo as it made me smile because it is so my cousin and it shows her funny side that usually results in us on the floors, laughing so hard the tears run down our legs.

This is a layout that started as one of my sketches. I used pieces from Basic Grey's Indie Bloom line, which I LOVE. The colors are so yummy. The little pom-poms are made from twine and there is a blog on how to make them here.

Monday (Page) Maps

It began with inspiration from Becky Fleck's Page Maps books and turned into this.

The random thrift art post

This is a totally random post with a totally random story to go with it. As I am sure I have mentioned at least once, I love to thrift. I mean, I REALLY love to thrift. It makes me feel like a kid on Christmas morning. So yesterday I went to a nearby town that I had heard had good thrift stores and a fair number of them in a small radius. I happened upon two pictures that weren't something I would describe as my style, but I was drawn to nonetheless.

Here is where the random story comes in. It wasn't random in that it is off topic, but more what happened. I took the two pictures to the counter and was making small talk with the cashier. Here is how the conversation went down.

Her: "These pictures are interesting aren't they?"

Me: "Yeah, I am guessing they are kind of old."

She picks up the picture, puts her nose to the back of it and inhales deeply.
Her: "1950's."

Me: "I beg your pardon?" (As I tried to not let my jaw hang open in disbelief).

Her: "You can tell by the smell, they are from the 1950's."

Thought in my head: "Are you messing with me?"

I have to admit, friends, when I got into the safety of my own home with my treasures, I cautiously sniffed the back of one of the pictures. I am pretty sure I can guess what the 1960's and the 1970's smelled like and I know the 1990's smelled like Teen Spirit, but I am not sure what the 1950's smell like, but I smelled nothing.

Friday's Finish!

Whew! It feels good to get things off of the "Please Finish Me" list. I started this pair of silhouettes for my aunt back in May and just couldn't get the right touches to finish them and send them off to her. Ah, but finally, I have.

They started as two white ceramic discs that could be hung up. It was a stroke of genius that I realized if I added duct tape to the ceramic base, it would make it more easy to decorate. I am not sure if you have ever tried to paint or decorate a piece that has already been fired, but it is a pain in the tush. My aunt has a thing for zebra, so this was the logical choice in my mind.

Then I added the burlap and printed the silhouettes on sticky back canvas. I picked a boy and a girl cause as life would have it, my aunt has a boy and a girl. It was the back piece that I struggled with until I remembered I had a Cricut and I can cut pieces to size.

I deconstructed a record album cover for the scalloped circle, painted it, Rock Candy crackle painted it, and then Walnut Stain inked it. I also re-colored some of the beads from the hanging wire to make them more fitting for the color scheme.

Funny, now that I am looking at them, I think they need feathers....

See my dilemma with trying to finish things?

Have a great weekend!!!

A technique tute on Tuesday!

As promised, here is my loose glitter fix. Well, it isn't actually mine, since I got the idea from Natasja Verbeek, but this is how I do it.

Gather your supplies: tray, Gluber, loose glitter.

Peel off one side of the film from the Gluber and pour the glitter over the circle. *Note-- you do not need to cover all of it. Just get a nice amount down.*

Use your finger to spread the glitter around the Gluber. This is why you don't need to totally cover it to begin with. You can always add more. While you are spreading it with your finger, push the glitter into the Gluber. This will help it not flake later.

As my niece says, "Da-Da!" While this trick doesn't completely eliminate the mess of working with loose glitter, (seriously, I still had it all over myself, but maybe that is just me), it does cut down on the flaking once on the project.

At this point, you can brush off the excess. I was pretty rough with mine, using my fingers to rub the Gluber to remove as much extra as possible before peeling it from the backing and sticking it on my project. Also, while it looks like there are spots I missed, the Gluber is covered and once adhered, any light spots disappear.

So, as I laid in bed on Saturday night, I was thinking about how cool this turned out and what else I could do with Glubers when inspiration struck! I had to force myself to remain in bed and wait until morning to try my idea.

If a Gluber works so well with glitter, then how would it do with micro beads? I have always loved the look of micro beads, but the idea of trying to adhere them gave me nightmares, so the jar sat on my shelf, taunting me.

Haha! No more!

I used a 2" circle punch to match the size of the Gluber, punched an image from the paper, and followed the same process as above.

Again, rub those little boogers into the Gluber to make sure they stay. It can take more abuse than you might think.

Oooh, pretty!!! At this point, I am literally doing my "I am a genius" dance. If you have never seen it, you are totally missing out.

I know, I know! I even made a card! I was thinking how cute would these be as centers for larger Glubers that you make into flowers? I tried it but they were way too big for the card.

Get out the loose glitter and micro beads, my friends. The time has come to make them earn their keep!

Home Sweet Home

So I am going to do my best to post even though Blogger seems to be having some trouble.

I woke up to this beauty the other morning. I have been trying to grow an orchid for at least five years and I have never succeeded in getting one to bloom, but that stops here! Can you see those other buds? Oh yeah, those are four more waiting to show their glory!

This is what my desk looked like, (still looks like), while I was creating today. I totally wipe out any surface. But it is all in good fun. This is what I was putting the finishing touches on:

The other project from the second Tim Holtz class that I took a week ago. This is a canvas with pieces of his paper stash stacks adhered and then covered with beeswax. I decided to make mine into a house complete with windows to the people who live there.

See the man on the left? He is actually in love with the lady over on the right. Unfortunately, it is unrequited as the lady desire is obviously in love with the man in the window with her.

Here is another inhabitant peeking from her window. See the little girly on the pig underneath the window? That was a found piece from the stacks shared with me by my BFF, Daniela.

I loved the boy and his dog and his little bro peeking out of the ornate window to the left. Oh, and as a little bit of tongue in cheek, I used the floral patterned paper for the triangle under the rulers. It is flowers in the attic. ;P

"She..." series Part I

"She..." by Kobi Yamada

This book features quotes about empowering women. I was directed to the book by Elizabeth Kartchner on her Dear Lizzy blog and have since decided that it is something that every female I know should have. It was while thumbing through the book that I hit inspiration to do a series of layouts based on the quotes featuring pictures of the women in my life.

I started with an idea and a white sheet of 12x12. I used my clear Sakura Glaze pen to write a secret message on the page.

Its there, I promise. The Glaze pen works like a resist in a way. Let me tell you though, clear ink on white paper is a pain on the eyeballs. While I was working, I had a special helper.

Her job? Keeping me thoroughly entertained with her attempts to hide and to kill the ribbon attached to my distressing tool.

What do you mean this space isn't for me? It is obviously the perfect size!

Her other job was to be where I least expected her to be when it was time to put stuff away. Remember the secret message?

I had totally planned for this to be pinks and blues! Funny how you can start with a plan and then the creative just takes over.

I love how the Glaze resisted most of the paint. I did have to wipe the excess off with a paper towel, but I can see using this technique with other Glaze colors.

Another mess of embellishments at the base of the log. I made the log with sticky back canvas that I painted and then stamped the wood grain on. Cady's wings are from Pink Paislee's butterfly stickers. I had to sacrifice two butterflies for them but it was worth the cost. The little red and orange mushroom? Those are flat backed glass pieces that I found at a local stained glass store. Cute, huh?

Summer Moments

Summer is my favorite time of year. I love the warmth, wearing tank tops and shorts, it staying light longer. One thing I am not necessarily a fan of is ice cream. I know, I should have warned you to sit down before I dropped that bomb, right? I don't care for ice cream, it generally gives me a tummy ache. With the exception of ice cream from Thrifty's. Now there are no Thrifty's that I know of in existence, but thankfully their buyer, Rite Aid, has kept some of its stores with an ice cream counter where you can get some of the original Thrifty ice cream flavors. Now they also have some "new" flavors, like the caramel apple one they offered the other day, which if you ask me should have been called "Shrek Boogers and Toe Jam" cause that is what it looked like to me, BUT they do still have my all time favorite, Chocolate Malted Krunch.

I snapped these photos back in June. I was so surprised and excited to find this at the local Rite Aid, I just had to commemorate it with pictures and a layout. You see, I remember from the beginning of Lora's Memory, going to Thrifty's and getting an ice cream with my grandma. I can remember when I was finally allowed to have two scoops instead of just one. It was finally decided I was mature enough to handle two, my second choice being the brownie one, and I felt SOOO grown up.

This is the first layout I have done since the beginning of July. Sad, I know. I must have been going through layout withdrawal, cause I even journaled!!!

I used Basic Grey papers, AC Thickers, a random mess of embellies, and my new Stampin' Up! doily stamp with Versamark ink to create the resist on the kraft paper. I even pulled out the Cricut for that blue die cut peeking from the corner.

I would love to hear what reminds you of summer? Running in the sprinklers? The sound of the ice cream truck?

Tim Holtz Tuesday!

How cool would it be if Tim Holtz was a guest blogger or was doing an interview with me? Totally, right? Yeah, but he isn't. BUT, I do have a project that I created with him. I was fortunate enough to have the chance to take a class with Mr. Holtz over the weekend. This is my second opportunity and I have to reiterate that he is such an incredible spirit. You know those people you meet who are genuinely beautiful in heart and thought? That is Tim Holtz. Okay enough poetic, onto the creation.

This is one of two classes I took with Tim on Saturday. (Like how I dropped the "Tim" as if we are on a first name basis?) It is called "Patchwork Pandemonium" and it is a technique-centric experience. Every one of those patches was created with an ink, stamp, and/or paint technique. As he put it, it was "a five hour aerobic workout without ever leaving your seat." No kidding, but I LOVED every moment of it. And the amazing thing was each persons turned out different because we are all driven by different colors.

On a side note, I have to say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my readers!!! Truly. I was in my local scrapbook store today to grab some distress stain and a lovely lady informed me that she read The Squirrel Hole. I have to say that completely made my day, ( and I was having a rocky kind of day). So I just want to let you all know that I appreciate you taking the time from your life to spend a little bit of it with me. You all warm my heart.