Christy Tomlinson Giveaway

I am so inspired by Christy Tomlinson of Scarlett Lime.  Her mixed media art is simply gorgeous. 
I'm dying to take both her online classes:

The She Art Workshop

&

She Had Three Heart Art Journaling Workshop

Courtney Walsh has a very cool interview with Christy on her blog today.  Not only is there lots of amazing Christy eye candy but you can win a spot in the She Had Three Hearts art journaling workshop!  Click here for details. 

I made a few purchases today with mixed media intentions...some Faber-Castell PITT artist pens, some Sakura white Gelly Roll pens, a Canson mix media book which is going to become my new art journal and I'm hoping is going to get broken in tonight, and a bunch of new stamp sets.  I couldn't help myself.  I went to Joanns looking for some pens and realized that not only was all their paper crafting stuff 40% off but they are having their Friends & Family sale, too, which gets you ANOTHER 25% off EVERYTHING you buy (including stuff on sale!).  Did you know Joanns has a phone app where you can grab their coupons and just show the cashier your coupon on your phone??  That's so cool.  And so dangerous!

I also just got Roni Johnson's Teach Yourself Visually Collage & Altered Art book. 

This one came *highly* recommended by some of my peeps over on Scrapbook News and Review that I trust their opinions on matters of mixed media.  I'm just starting to look through it and I'm jonesing to dive into my craft room.  When do the kids go to bed??!!  LOL. 

The kids are outside playing archaeologists.  We've got hot plans to watch the new Suite Life on Deck movie tonight.  Oh, the joys of having near-tweens. 

Do you have any hot plans tonight?  Scrappy plans?

Whatever you do, have fun!

♥Heidi

Celebrate the Season

Supplies Cardstock: Coredinations; Patterned Paper: Advantus, American Crafts, Jillibean Soup, My Little Shoebox, Pebbles Inc.; Felt Spots: Precocious Paper; Ribbon: Prima Marketing; Stickers: SRM Stickers; Stamp: Autumn Leaves; Ink: Ranger Industries, Tsukineko; Pen: Sharpie; Glitter: Stampin' Up!; Punches: EK Success, Marvy, McGill; Adhesive Sheet: Therm-O-Web; Other: thread

So, how's spring treating you?  Ours looked like it was going to start out with a bang with temperatures 15+ degrees warmer than normal.  But then it rained on Monday and brought the temps back down into the normal range (about 75 for this time of year) but they're trying to climb again.  It's forcasted at 83 this weekend.  Ugh. 

I had a bit of fun with this layout, cutting up lots of different favorite patterned papers (with a couple of Precocious Paper Sweet Spots and some awesome SRM stickers thrown in there for good measure). 

I gave the picture a "burnished velvet" treatment.  If you like it you can check out my step-by-step tutorial for it in the April Scrapbook News and Review magazine next month. 

This layout is based on the sketch I made for this week's Sketchy Thursdays challenge:

I got my inspiration for this from the way my son's school newsletters are formatted.  LOL!  See, you just never know when inspiration will strike!

Be sure to check out what the Sketchy Thursdays DT made for your inspiration with this sketch this week.  As usual, great stuff!  This week's sponsor, Addicted to Scrapbooking, is giving our lucky random winner a $25 gift certificate!  Just link your layout up to Mr. Linky in the ST sidebar by 10pm EST next Wednesday 3/30 for your chance to win!  Seriously, have you been to the Addicted to Scrapbooking site????  It's awesome!  They have TONS of stufff!!!  (I believe the official estimation is over 35,000 products!!!!)   I have a wish list there a mile long! 

Ooh!  Did you see we announced the April - October Sketchy Thursdays Design Team line up?  I can't wait to play along with this amazing group of talent.  I'll be seriously missing our departing DT members, too.  :-(

Have a great weekend!!

♥Heidi

Life is Good

This is a bittersweet post for me.  I've got two Precocious Paper projects to share which I LOVE but sadly, these are my last PP projects as a member of her DT.  I'm so bummed to be saying goodbye to my DT term.  :o(  It has been an honor and great fun!!!  I will definitley continue to include PP products on my projects, of course, as they're definitely some of my favorite flowers out there!

Supplies Cardstock: Stampin' Up!; Patterned Paper: 7Gypsies, My Minds Eye; Brads: My Minds Eye; Chipboard: Colorbok; Flowers: Precocious Paper; Sticker: SRM Stickers; Pen: Zig

I absolutely love the Precocious Paper Rolled Fabric Flowers.  They come in two sizes and are just so elegant.  Here I topped a trio of smaller ones with some pretty patterned brads. 

Something I discovered about the ivory rolled fabric flowers (which I'm sure also goes for the white and any of the lighter colored ones) is they accept glitter mist beautifully!

I wasn't sure it was going to work...I trepidatiously sprayed this one thinking if I screwed it up I was going to be seriously bummed since I only had 2 to work with.  I thought maybe, since the fabric was so shimmery and slick-looking that the mist might just bead up on it or unevenly soak in.  Very happily the fabric accepted the mist perfectly. 

When I set out to make this next piece I dove into it with just this gorgeous misted flower and a poem composed by my 5-year-old daughter for inspiration.  Let me tell you, those were some amazing inspiration as I am so proud of this piece.

Supplies Flower: Precocious Paper; Ribbon: Michaels; Tape: Advantus; Stamp: Delish Designs; Ink: Ranger Industries, Tsukineko; Paint: Delta, Making Memories, Plaid; Glitter Glue: Ranger Industries; Ink Mist: Maya Road, Tattered Angels, Tsukineko; Pen: Sharpie; Charcoal Pencil: General's; Oil Pastels: Pentel; Tool: Stampin' Up!; Poem: "The Flower Grows and Grows" by Kinsey Myers; Other: chipboard, drywall tape, staples

The thing I think I'm most impressed with myself on this is that the mix of paints I used on her eyes is almost exactly the color of my daughter's eyes!  I call her "Rootbeer Eyes" because their color reminds me of a backlit rootbeer barrel candy. 

It's so hard to photograph anything shimmery.  This picture doesn't do the flower or the metallic, shimmery copper color in her hair or eyes justice. 
So, one day last month on the way to school my daughter recited a poem for me.  I asked if she'd learned it in school.  She said no, she'd just made it up.  And then she kept reciting it over and over.  She even said it for her class.  Of course, I had to write it down and I've been planning to commemorate it on a layout ever since.  Today, instead, a painting seemed more in order.

The poem begins in the middle of the flower, sprials out of it and down the stem with the "composed by" and the date sprialling through the leaf. 

I put in a seed

It started to grow

It grew a flower

On top of its nose

It started to smile

Full of glee

Happily

Isn't that adorable??!!!!!   My budding poet!  I love the way every line didn't have to have the same number of syllables. 

To finish off the page I attempted to make an interpretive sun out of spiraled misted Tim Holtz tissue tape and clouds of drywall tape. 

The butterfly is cut out of some spring-themed ribbon. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I loved making it.  I don't paint often and don't consider myself a painter by any stretch of the imagination but I really had a great time doing this piece.  I guess I just need awesome inspiration first.  Now I've just got to find a frame for it and it's going to go live in my daughter's room. 

Be sure to check out the Precocious Paper blog for lots more yummy, flowery inspiration from her talented DT.   I can't wait to see who will be on the next team.

Hopefully you guys are cooler than we are this week.  It got up to 91 yesterday.  (Not sure what today was but it felt even worse.)  If it were May, or even April, I would've given in and clicked on that A/C so fast but there's something about it being only March that I refuse to on principle.  Even for here that's 15 degrees warmer than normal.  It's supposed to go back to the "normal" range next week.  I'll believe it when I feel it. 

♥Heidi

Little Things

Supplies Cardstock: Bazzill Basics; Patterned Paper: Jillibean Soup, My Little Shoebox; Stickers: SRM Stickers; Moondrops:      ; Alcohol Ink: Ranger Industries; Glitter Mist: Maya Road, Tattered Angels; Pen: Zig; Other: paint chip, staples, thread

Welcome to another installment of Sketchy Thursdays.  And YES!  It's a traditional layout!!!!!   (Admittedly I almost had a hard time not doing this one digi.  I'm hooked!)

I've been holding on to these pictures for, well, 6 years considering this little boy is now 7 and he's 11 months here.  Time to scrap those puppies.  This was his first trip to the beach.  He had a great time.  A litle digging.  A little flinging.  A little eating.  (Yup!  If you take a closer look at the middle picture his mouth is lousy with the sand he's been munching on.)

Loving my little faux dew drops...there's a tutorial for how to make them coming up in Scrapbook News and Review the last Sunday of March.  (Did you hear - we're publishing twice a month now!  The second Sunday of each month will be chock full of all the eye candy.  The last Sunday OEM will have all the awesome tutorials and paper crafting articles.)

I've been playing with my mists a lot in the last couple days, too.  (And I've got blood-red fingers to show for it.  The Tsukineko walnut inks are very intense and stain big time.  My son freaked out thinking his head was bleeding again when he saw my hands, LOL.)

Of course, this layout is based on this week's sketch:

Sketchy Thursdays is also partnering with SRM Stickers this week.  We got to play with some of their newly released stickers.  Have I mentioned I love SRM Stickers?  Seriously.  They blend so well into the background paper. 

Speaking of blood red and the boy...I'm happy to report he's doing fine.  It's a challenge washing his hair but otherwise it doesn't bother him at all.  (Gotta remember to make the appointment to get the staples taken out.)

So, are you wearing your green today?  Do you do anything special for St. Patrick's Day?  We don't although if you have some corned beef and cabbage you want to send my way I'm all over it!  Love it!  Sometimes I make the effort to make it for St. Pat's but I just didn't bother this year.   I do love this day, however, just because green is my favorite color, LOL!

Oh, the May calls are up for Scrapbook News and Review.  Check out my sidebar for the link to see the call descriptions.  Check out the sketch!  It's mine!!  :oD

Have a green and lucky day!

Pretty good. We made it almost 7-1/2 years. (warning - graphic pics)

Without a trip to the ER, that is. 

I guess we've had a pretty good track record, not having had to visit the ER before. 

A playground injury.  He was playing tag and ran into the metal playground equipment.

Man, head wounds sure do bleed profusely. 

My little trooper didn't cry or moan once.  He's my little Frankenstein now...2 staples!

Don't worry - the shiny stuff is antibiotic gel.  Mostly. 

Pretty gross...I can't get the area wet for 24 hours and as I mentioned, head wounds bleed profusely.  His hair is soaked with blood (now dried).  I tried sponging it out as best I could.  Ick! 

So I've driven by several Urgent Cares in my time, always making a conscious mental note of where they are just in case.  Yeah, all that cataloguing just flew out the window.  My mind went blank.  Luckily someone nearby knew the one I wanted to go to.  Whew! 

OK, enough excitement for me for one day. 

Paw Paw & Keegers

Supplies Patterned Paper: Websters Pages; Flower: Design by Diana; Brads: SEI; Rub Ons: Carolee's Creations; Paint: Plaid; Glitter: EK Success: Other: chipboard negative

Originally published in Scrapbook News and Review, January 2011

It's so hard making layouts you absolutely love and then not being able to immediately share them on your blog!  I made this layout for the January issue of Scrapbook News and Review which means I created this layout sometime around the end of November or the beginning of December. 

I love the way this came out.  I've been hanging onto a bunch of chipboard shape negatives for years just knowing they would come in handy one day.  I fussy cut one sheet of Webster's Pages paper to incorporate the chipboard negative. 

You can see here the dimension to the layout.  (Plus get a load of that awesome flower!  Design by Diana, baby!)

So, it's climbing into the upper 80s here with the threat of 90 by mid-week.  ~sigh~  Not ready for this at all. 

Kids are on spring break this week.  Lots of fun outdoor activities planned.  Woohoo.

I'm excited, though...the March issue of Scrapbook News and Review publishes tomorrow.  Lots of awesome stuff in there!!!!  Check it out!

Have a great weekend!

Heidi


p.s.  Less than one more week for our Design Team call over on Sketchy Thursdays!  You know you wanna apply!  Do it!!!!! 

Last Day

Credits Digital Kit: Pot O Gold by Raspberry Road Designs; Fonts: Baby Kruffy, Century Gothic, Freebooter Script

This layout shows various activities on the last day of Kindergarten for The Boy last year.  (Click on it to see it bigger.)   I really love the colors in the digital kit I used, Pot O Gold by Raspberry Road Designs.  Incidentally, the main kit is up for grabs as this week's prize on Sketchy Thursdays.

This week we have a double-page sketch:  

Remember, our sketches are design suggestions...check out all the different ways our DT interpreted it.

We'd love to have you play along with us! 

Also, don't forget we still have a DESIGN TEAM CALL up until next Friday 3/18.  We're looking for traditional AND digital scrappers.

I'm so not ready for this...today it is forecasted to be 89 degrees. 

89!

Toooooooo early!!!!!!!

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

I Love You This Much

Originally published in Scrapbook News and Review January 2011

I love everything about this layout.

First and foremost I love the picture. 

I love the pinks and reds and chocolate browns. 

I love the block format.

I love all the texture - the glitter and foiled papers, a yummy Precocious Paper satin bridal bloom (my faves!), the crepe paper pleat, the stitching, the metal gromlets, the ruffly ribbon.

And I love the heart punched border.

This layout has hung in my family room since the day I made it. 

****

A few announcements:

Sketchy Thursdays is holding a Design Team call for our April - September term.  All crafters - traditional, digi, and cardmakers - are encouraged to apply.  See this post for details.

Precocious Paper is hold a DT call for the April - September term.  See this post for details.  I will GREATLY miss being on this amazing team and have been honored to be on her inaugural DT. 

Want to get published?  See here for the calls for the April issue of Scrapbook News and Review.  The call is open through March 12.

In Your Face!

May 2011 issue

Supplies Patterned Paper & Bling: Paisley Pop kit by Karen Funk; Stitches: Feedsack kit by Splendid Fiins; Word Art: An Unkind Word by Deena Rutter; Brush: Stitch by Boyingopaw

I just discovered these pictures.  I don't remember taking them although they're taken from where I was sitting when we went out to dinner a couple weeks ago.  LOL.  Getting old, people.  :-(

This layout is based on the sketch I made for Sketchy Thursdays this week, although I knocked it on its side:

We'd love to have you play along with us!!!! 

And check out the Sketchy Thursdays site on Friday for a special announcement!!! 

♥Heidi