Challenges Really Do Help..

*sigh*

It's been 12 days since I posted anything and I felt a little bit like going nuts..I hadn't made ANYTHING in those days and it was driving me crazy but I also couldn't seem to get it together to do so! This return to work thing is really taking some adjusting! I'm so tired on my days off that I just want to veg..I know, I know, hand the girl the worlds smallest violin but it's the truth!!

Anyway, I managed to pull together a page together for two challenges...one of them is about to end in a few hours so I'd better hurry this up!  I'm turning this LO in to CSI for their case #5 and Punky Scraps Sketchy Sketch challenge. I don't normally use sketches but this one just called to me and helped me out of my rut! So thank you Punky Scraps!!  Here's the sketch and color combo:

My oldest daughter just lost her first tooth and so of course I had to do a page:)  The smiles were tough to get because she kept grimacing, trying to show me the gap...hee-hee...so sometimes all you can do is go with what you can get.

Thank you so much for the visit and comment!!

Getting Messy at True XOXO!

I'm so excited, it's time for the new challenge and DT reveal over at True XOXO Girls!  And this month it's all about getting MESSY!! Them's be my kinda words :)

For my page, besides the word 'messy' I was inspired from a series of books that my DD like to read...The Magic School Bus books..great stuff! Anyway, there's this fabulous teacher in each story named 'The Frizz' and she has this quote that I hope my girls live by and that's what I decided to emphasize........

I started with a blank sheet of canvas and used UTEE to heat emboss the stamped title. After that I covered the canvas in mists, paints, and ink until I was satisfied with the coverage and colors. To frame the photo I did some doodling, stamping and "rub-on-ing". Then the fun part..I took some baby wipes and cleaned all the color off of the letters to expose the original white canvas color underneath and doodled to get the bolder outlines. Here's some close ups:

OK, now it's your turn so come on over and get messy!!

CSI and BITW

I finally made a scrapbook layout and this one came together pretty quickly so I'm happy (ah the small things...)! I'm dropping these off over at 2 different challenge blogs:  C.S.I color, stories, inspiration and Bird is the Word.  The photo on this page was taken on my baby girl's 8 month birthday and it's actually got mom (me) in the picture (which is a rarity) so again it makes me happy :)  I also actually journaled on the layout itself and found myself pleased with that (since I usually journal in the back)...thank you to CSI for the encouragement!

I applied gesso to the background with a palette knife and stamps, used a stencil and acrylic paints, and sprayed some glimmer mist here and there.

I doodled the large circles with glue and sprinkled glitter over it for some shine:)

Thanks for your visit and comments!

Made My Day!

Today I got a very sweet blog award that made my day! Thank you so much Misty for the honor and for all the supportive blog love you leave!!

"Liebster" is a German word meaning dearest, beloved or favorite, and the Liebster Award is sort of a chain letter among bloggers that's intended to showcase exceptional up-and-coming blogs (typically, those with 200 or fewer followers).  There's no evaluation committee or formal award process for the Liebster, but in a way it's even nicer - it's recognition that a peer has noticed and appreciated your hard work.

Here are the rules:

Choose 5 up and coming blogs of fewer than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.

Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

Post the award on your blog.  Link back to the blogs you have given the Liebster to so everyone else can pay them a visit.

And now I am sharing and passing on the award to five wonderful blogs that I am sure you will want to stop by for a visit:

Yuzz  http://blossominch.blogspot.com/

Lisa  http://mypeaceofpaper.blogspot.com/

Cheryl http://craft-thing.blogspot.com/

Michelle  http://myanaloglife.blogspot.com/

Dayna  daynahoward.typepad.com


Thanks again Misty and I hope everyone enjoys my list of blogs!

The Journal Won

I very much tried to work on a scrapbook page as I'm feeling the pressure of the ever increasing mountain of photos saying "scrap me...scrap me.." But in the end, the cardstock gave me nothing and the art journal kept throwing glances my way, enticing me to come and play :)

This page definitely feels more chaotic to me than my first page but my intent was to try and evoke the feeling of the sun coming up and pushing the dark away...

Thank you, as always, for your visits and comments!

Art Journaling!

ARGH how frustrating! I just finished writing my blog and went to add the picture and suddenly....ALL GONE! Nothing saved! &$#@!! I need to vent that!

OK, sorry but here's the synopsis...

I decided to start art journaling again because sometimes I just want to mess around with paints and colors and techniques while not necessarily making a whole page. I had started one earlier last year but it just kinda fizzled out....I'm going to use the "I just had a new baby" excuse and leave it at that ;)  

I've seen so many wonderful art journals from the blogs I follow and from YouTube...two of my faves are Julie Fei-fan Balzer and July! If you want some inspiration check them out!

So for my page, I didn't really plan it too much..I just knew I wanted to draw hearts and use my Caran d'ache  crayons:

Thank you for checking it out! Much appreciated!

Oh Where Oh Where Did My Mojo Go?

Hooray! My first page to post for 2012!

I really missed not scrapping in December but with the "busy-ness" of the new year it took a bit of time to get back into the creative swing of things... I went straight to The Color Room for some pick-me-up on this one and it was still not easy!  I love these photos..they are of baby girl who is now 7.5 mos old...can you believe it? Over seven months already!! Anyway, I snapped these just days ago and wanted to do justice to them right away (which I suspect is the main problem...too much pressure on myself!).  I stared, I turned the pictures this way and that, I pulled out all manner of stuff to put on the page (I even asked my husband for his opinion...ehem..big mistake) and still NOTHING...so frustrating! And just when I was about to call it for the night I tried a different combo of papers and though I can't say "voila!" I was able to push through and get it done.

Relief.

And here it is:

I put together a lot of layers here, more than I usually work with. And really, thank goodness for tissue paper! Love that stuff and the purple tissue was my breakthrough here (though not much of a breakthrough)  :)  I made the large flower from vellum to mimic the flower on my daughter's hat. I hadn't used vellum in a while...need to pull it out more often! 

And thank you for listening to my ramblings..........! Cheers!