Color me happy

Forgive my absence... but I've been very busy lately getting ready for a craft show... not to mention preparing to look for a job. My teaching license was finally approved and I'm working on getting on some sub lists. The craft show is next weekend, so I probably won't post again until it's finished. Just wanted to share my latest page, "The Key to Happiness."

This page was done for a several challenges.. a color challenge for CSI: Color, Stories, Inspiration - and was chosen as the Star Witness there, Lisa's Monthly Mayhem Challenge at Sketches 4 All, where I had to be inspired by beach elements: sand (texture), water (something clear), waves (curves), towel (textile) - and it was chosen page of the week there, and a sketch challenge at My Scraps and More. The picture(s) on this page was taken shortly before my son's 1st birthday.. and he will soon be eight at the present. I created this page, thinking back on that picture and time in his life, and I journalled about little pieces of advice to help him have a happy life. I loved how it turned out and was thrilled that others liked it as well.

Some former faves

One of my day zero goals is to organize my scrapbooks. Sometimes I make pages so quickly and not chronological, that I fail to put them into their respective books when I'm finished. As a result, I have piles of pages that are not in albums. And, being a teensy bit OCD, I can't just put them in books, but they need to be chronological... even if I don't scrap that way. So, it will take some work on my part, but it's definitely my goal to get them organized in a way that makes me happy. So, I'm in the process right now and as I was going through my stack of pages, I came across a few that I finished within the past year that I hadn't posted here and would like to share.

The first was for a scraplift challenge at a site that has since sadly closed down. I was glad to use some of the older Bam Pop that I was seemingly hoarding. It gave this LO such a fun look.

This next LO was for a challenge at the same site, this time only using party supplies - no scrapbook supplies! Everything on here, including the background, is from one of several different gift bags, and also some birthday candles. I love how it turned out.

This is from yet another challenge from the same site. The requirements were to cut a photo into mosaic squares and to use some masking. I wasn't thrilled about having to cut up a photo like that, especially having to cut B's face to make the squares even, but I don't think it turned out too bad, especially the rest of the page. I love the Frances Meyer papers and rub-ons. They gave this page a fun, summer-y feel. Perfect for a beach LO.

This next LO was for My Scraps' Got Talent contest last year. It was a color challenge and I also had to do some distressing.This is the 2nd year for their Got Talent contest and I will post a couple of my recent projects soon...

This last LO... I can't remember what site I did it for, but I'm sure it was for some sort of challenge. Can't get enough of them to keep my mojo flowing! It might have been a color or shape challenge by the looks of it... I'm glad I got to use up some of those old eyelets I just can't seem to part with! I'm also pretty pleased with how this LO turned out.

Day Zero Project

I was recently inspired by another blogger to join the Day Zero Project. It is a list of challenges and goals you set for yourself - 101 things to do in 1001 days. Being such a list person and having plenty of goals for myself, I knew this was something I had to try. I like this because the goals can be big or small and you have a set date to complete them - not too short or too long, but 1001 days (almost 3 years) seems about right to get that many done. I have some fairly easy ones on the list, along with some more difficult ones, and I plan to share them here when I complete them.

And, being a true crafter and historian, of course I had to create a little book to document my journey over the next 2 3/4 years. This is not an altered notebook... I actually created it by cutting down sheets of cardstock, punching the holes, and binding it all together with my Bind-It-All (I seriously think I'm addicted to that thing, lol). That was the hardest part - and most time-consuming. The most fun was creating the cover. I covered the chipboard squares with black cardstock and painted the edges in black as well. I chose select pieces of DCWV's Rockstar line to layer onto the front. I really wanted my book to be fun, cute, and edgy and these papers seemed perfect. I don't use a lot of pink in my scrapbooks having two boys, so I always jump at the chance to use it when I make something just for me (as long as it's not too girly!). This was just the right combination of feminine and cool. As a finishing touch, I added a couple pieces of Grungeboard coated in Stickles.

So, I love the look of my book and I'm pretty excited about having a cool place to record my completed goals. I've already finished one of them since I made my list a few weeks ago. Any guesses what it is? My previous post might have a hint... but as soon as I finish documenting it, I'll share it here ;)

Back from Vacation

The boys and I recently took a week-long vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. It was our first time there and we had a really good time. In addition to being on the beach, there were a bunch of attractions to see, such as an aquarium, Hard Rock Cafe, Magiquest, Ripley's museum, Nascar go-karts, an amusement park, and water slides to name a few. And yes, we pretty much did them all.



But, as much fun as we had, it's nice to be back. I always feel like I have way too much to do to be gone for so long... and now it's time to get back in the swing of things (such as looking for a job).

Before I left, I finished up the Crowned competition at Scrapdango with this layout. The challenge was to show off a talent and I chose to knit a banner from ribbon. My first time including knitting on a layout and to try it in ribbon. I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out.







Now that the competition is over, I've started a new one at My Scraps and More. Of course, being on vacation has put me slightly behind on the challenges, but thankfully the deadline is not till the end of summer.

Crowned Week 4

I just finished up my entry for week 4 of Scrapdango's Crowned contest and I'm pretty excited to share it. The challenge was to create a LO with song lyrics as the title. I chose Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" for this page about some fair fun. I really love how it turned out. These older papers from Frances Meyer were the perfect color and the edge distressing added just enough interest. I topped it all with some Thickers by American Crafts and tiny letters from My Little Shoebox.

The contest is winding down... Only one more week left! I'm a little worried about this last week because the challenge is issued tomorrow and is due the last day of May... which gives me about 3 days to get it done. I'm up for the challenge, though!

Crowned

Recently I enetered a month-long competition at Scrapdango. The winner gets a guest DT spot. I'm currently in week 4 and competition has been fierce. The other ladies have come up with some gorgeous creations. For the first week, the challenge was to add bling to a layoout. I don't get into a lot of sparkly on my pages, but I found that glitter glue and glittery ribbon worked well on this Christmas page.



Week 2's challenge was to create something for a mother. Since Mother's Day was just around the corner, I made a mini-book of my kids and their sports for my mom. It's made out of just one sheet of patterned cardstock. The cut and fold method is called ox-plow pamphlet. I love how this one turned out and so did my mom when I gave it to her.

I had a tougher time with week 3's challenge. This time we could use no patterned paper, only solid-color cardstock, which could be altered with stamps, etc. Very hard for me as a patterned paper addict! I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out though. This one features Little Yellow Bicycle rub-ons, dry embossing, button and ribbon flowers, and a few pieces of some handmade paper I made while teaching high school.

Crafty gifts

Lately, my financial situation has dictated that I make more gifts than buy them. And that's ok with me since I love making things. So for my aunt's birthday, I made her a purse-sized journal (yes another book!) with one of my favorite classic stamps from Stampin' Up! and a birthday card with American Crafts papers. I also used this sketch challenge from Sketches4All for the card.

And because it was Mother's Day, of course I had to make mother something to celebrate the day. The card I made was also for another challenge on Sketches4All. I made a gift, too, but that will be for another post ;)

April Sketch

J recently got braces and I thought this sketch challenge found at Sketches4All was perfect for the picture I took. I used Collage Press and Basic Grey papers along with Foofala rubons.

Teacher gifts

When I finished with my student teaching, I wanted to show my mentoring teachers my thanks with a token of appreciation. For my elementary placement, I didn't have much trouble coming up with an idea for a gift to make. I saw quite a few framed crayon monograms on pinterest and thought that would be a great gift for an elementary teacher. I printed out a big letter "C" in my favorite font, Garamond, on a pale, dusty green cardstock, spent a good hour cutting pieces of crayon in a rainbow order and glued them onto the "C." I used some Making Memories rubon letters for the name underneath.

I had a little more trouble coming up with a good idea for my secondary placement. I didn't think a crayon monogram was appropriate for a high school teacher and couldn't find much in the way of idea on the internet. I eventually decided to make a sketchbook using my Zutter binder. I purchased a drawing pad at Michaels and cut the pages to a smaller size. After decorating the chipboard covers with mostly Basic Grey Mellow, I punched and binded the covers along with the sketch paper with the Zutter binder.

And Another...

With all the papermaking and bookbinding going on in the high school classes I've been teaching, I just couldn't help but to make another book. This one is a little bit bigger and more substantial than the last little book I made. This one also features handmade paper. Using this book as an example, I taught the students how to sew the pages together, adding ribbon if they wanted to attach it to the covers. I cut chipboard to size and covered both pieces with some Basic Grey, then added sheet music, Glitz paper, a Fiskars stamp, Prima flower, grungeboard shape, and a few embellishments I cut from paper. I'll be adding this to my Graduate Colloquium Art Show.

Book Arts

An art form I've really embraced lately is the art of making books. I've learned several bookbinding techniques and have bought a few books on the subject for inspiration. I've even implemented the art in a few of my high school art lessons. I've been making handmade paper with the high school kids and I've been working on a few books of my own. Yesterday, I finished up this tiny little book (measures only 2 1/2" x 3 1/2") as a birthday present for my mom. The inside contains handmade paper and is hand-bound with a simple saddle stitch. The cover has Webster's Pages and Lily Bee Designs (on the inside) paper, Prima flower and stamp, and Frances Meyer sticker.

And here's another book I made a little while ago that I've been using as an example in my classes. I used some nice, heavy sketchbook paper for the inside and bound it with a Japanese stab binding. The cover is all Basic Grey (paper, rub-ons, stickers) and a button from my stash.

Spring Break!

So nice to have nearly a week off from student teaching...  Not only am I planning on sleeping in every day of my break, but I also need to get caught up on some housework, schoolwork, and, of course, artwork! Teaching art to kids has been a lot of fun, but I'd also like to do some art just for myself. I bought a ton of new papers and a few stickers from an online scrapbook store that's going out of business and has some deep discounts, I've joined a few new scrappy sites with some good inspiration and challenges, and now that I have some time freed up, I'm going to have some creative play.

And just for some inspiration, here's a card I made not long ago, but I'm pretty sure I haven't posted yet. This tag-shaped card was made with Upsy-Daisy Designs paper. The butterflies and flourishes were fussy-cut and I used Glossy Accents on them to give them shine and dimension.