Another Great Day

In case you could not tell, I absolutely love crafting. I mean it is my stress reliever.  I have a great career but as everyone knows there are those days.
As today is Halloween I thought it would be appropriate to have a page that had at least something remotely spooky.  This one has an image of Dark Shadows the movie which I got from the American Way magazine.

This particular lay out still needs some work. I had not yet added borders but it has a lot of accents. Another one done with Tim Holtz Distress stains.  I have some pretty decent magazine images that I wanted to try out so this is my way of incorporating them. Some of the accents were done with some die cuts I did from a friend's quik cutz stash, loving them. The stamps you probably recognize as being from Dylusions. I just love the leaves and accenting them.

This is my last post for the month of October. I am so proud of myself. I managed to blog at least 3/4 of the time this month. I had only hoped for a couple of times a week. I have to tell you, I have felt better about it.

Oh well, I will go for now and hope to hear from you soon. As always please don't hesitate to comment on my blog with questions or words of praise (hint-hint).

Until Later

SS

Just keep working away

I absolutely love working in my art journals. I need to reorganize my room still so my desk is not as messy but I am having so much fun. I managed to finish inking the rest of my layout pages tonight and even get a couple of layouts inked in one of my Canson XL journal I purchased on sale. I wanted to make sure it would take the ink and water. It absolutely will. So now I am happy I purchased 7 of them at WalMart for dirt cheap.  OK, you caught me, I have issues with journals.  I just love them. But Dyan Reavely says that she has at least 6 or 7 journals started at any given time. So right now I have 4 that I am working in. One Dylusions, a Canson XL, my altered atlas and finally my "Ross for Less" journal that has turned out to be simply awesome.  I found out that I the "Ross" journal is really a Carnet journal. They normally run $20 but I got it for $4 because it was missing a pen. I am now looking for others at each Ross I go to.  : ). I told you I had issues.

So here is the background start to part of my Ross journal.  I did the background with distress stains that I had.  I added some glitter washi tape that matched.  I added some borders from my Prima Doll stamp collection. I think I will just add a little distress ink through stencils and then journal on this page.  But as you can see I love the Kenny K images.

Oh well, until later

SS

Another great day of crafting

So I made it home safe an sound and now I have been spending a couple hours a day on my art journal. Sometimes just creating backgrounds and other times adding all of the focal points.  And when I don't feel like getting off my ass then I will just use pens to accent.  I can't complain because at least I get a chance to be creative and let off steam.

I am not quite finished with this page yet. But I don't really know what it needs.  Definitely a border but I think I need to actually journal on this page to give it more fullness. I will try it with a colored pen that might pull out some color but not overwhelm the page. The background is claudine Helmuth paint.

I found these images in a magazine and decided they recognized the thought of being faceless or invisible. And as you can see I can't spell because I used an "A" instead of "I" in the word. I never claimed I could. : )

Oh well,

Until later

SS

Absolutely Exhausted

So, I am still recovering from the Crafting Marathon I had this past weekend. I am watching a little bit of the World Series. I truly want Boston to Win. Go RED SOX!!

I wanted to show you a page that I worked on while I was crafting with what I hope will become some really good friends.

I did my normal on this page. I used some Dylusions sprays that I diluted because I saw it on You Tube from joggles.com.  I then did some shadowing an some other background work with stamps and punches. I used some cool glitter tape I got from JoAnn Fabrics for 40% off. I will definitely use more of this. I really accents the page and comes in some cool colors that somehow seem to match the sprays.  I added an image from "The Greeting Farm".  I had colored her with Copic markers, fussy cut and then applied with Claudine Helmuth's matte medium.  There was charcoal used around some of the images and white gel pen to make them pop. I hope you like the page. I had fun creating this little work of art.  You can barely see the text but it says, "yes, I am cute".

Until Later

SS

Dallas Crafters Marathon

I was finally able to go to a Dallas Crafter's Marathon in Plano and I have to say I had an absolutely awesome time. I got a lot done and more importantly I met some great people that I hope will be part of my life in the future.  This pic is just one of the Art Journal Layouts I was able to work on during this 25 hour time period.

I was trying out the distress stains that I had on some pages and have to say that I absolutely love them. They are so easy to put down in any type of pattern and then I used some washi tape in coordinating colors to pull it all together.  Here you find some images that I pulled out of an American Way magazine I had from a few months ago. Norah Jones and Helena Bonham Carter are the features here. I also finished up with some stamping and accents.  I hope you like it.

I absolutely love Art Journaling and clearly "buying" art journal supplies. I have GOT to STOP immediately. Although it is so much fun finding the things that I could possibly use in one of the 20 journals I have right now. I want to have at least 4 or 5 different art journals going at one time to ensure I have a medium to work in when the mood hits me.

This is my form of therapy. I plan on going on a cruise in a month time where will do some crafting so I am trying to figure out how I will pack for this. I hate carting so much and I want to insure I don't bring so much that I don't even touch half of it.  

I uploaded this to Balzer Designs for Art Journal Every Day.

Ok, until Later
SS

Coffee Beans...Yummy!!

Ok, please allow me to elaborate on just how much of an idiot I am. So, I went to the Farmer's Market on Friday and while I was there I purchased dark chocolate covered coffee beans.  They are really good. What I clearly failed to recognize was just how they would affect my body. This comes from a person that barely drinks tea much less, coke or coffee. OMG! I am so wired. Wired so much that I can't sleep. So eventually I got up and said I would work on an art journal spread. I have spent so much time looking at other people's layouts that I figured it was time to work on my style. So, here I am at 5:00 am posting what I just finished. Keep in mind that most of the background was already completed.  I was working with some mixed media items and wanted to also know how my copic coloring designs would work with the matte medium. Well, it will smudge a little so I will be careful when covering the items. I might even decide to pop the next one up.

I also decided to journal a little on this page to kind of explain what I was feeling while I was making this page. I am kind of proud of it and I hope that you enjoy it.  I plan to enter it into a couple of blog challenges. 
The first one is 613 Avenue Create. The theme is anything goes for this week. The second one is for artistic inspirations. The third one is Creative Craft Challenges 2. Another is Crafting by Designs. The last one is 4 Krafty Girlz Challenge Blog. The main image is from The Greeting Farm. I love coloring these because it allows for decent practice on blending.  I actually colored a bunch of images and then I just picked out which one I thought would be best for the page. But I kind of like her smart look.The background is diluted Dylusion sprays and some stamped leaves and an alphabet stamp. I used a few of my one million letters to help my lettering and then embellished. I doodled a frame which I thought was cool, considering I did it free hand with a basic sharpie "no bleed" pen. The colors really are much more vibrant than the pictures show. I guess it is that wonderful camera phone I use to upload.

Until later
SS

A new Challenge Blog

I found a new challenge blog. It is called "Crafting by Designs".  They are out of the UK but I have found so many great challenges that I think I will become a regular on this one. I am still just doing ATC's and art journals but I love it so why stop.

I finally went to the Colleyville Farmer's Market. I have to say. I was impressed. I mean the prices were a little high but not unreasonable and you get stuff that you can't buy a whole lot of other places. I tell you though, if you blink you will miss it.  I go to church right across the street and never knew it was there. It was only that Tracey mentioned it.

And I had to try some of their Tamale's. The chicken ones are only 3 weight watcher points. Although I messed up and at a fried apple pie. I am not going to beat myself up over it. I am just going to get back on the wagon and keep going. It wasn't even that good.

Until Later
SS

Wicked Wednesday

OMG

I just found out that I won the Wicked Wednesday ATC Challenge Blog!!! Yeah!  And I won from Dilly Beans who is one of my favorite digi artist.

So Jenn, the coordinator of Wicked Wednesday, sent me my badge but I have no clue how to put it on my blog. I guess I will have to research it. I see people do it all the time. I am so happy. I guess I need to go pick out my images and then I need to get to work. I have a feeling today is going to be a long day. Even though it is Friday!!!

Until Later

SS

One more hobby

So, I picked up a Zenspirations book by Joanne Fink. This was a link to her website which is pretty cool. I like the watercoloring part of it.  I plan on trying it. Basically it is just a step up on doodling. Which of course I don't do well at all. But I figure with all of the crap I have it can't hurt to try it. I didn't have to buy anything new because I already have everything in the world.  I also bought some souffle gel pens. I really want to start working on black paper for ATC's. Hence the reason for the doodle practice.  I can also use it in my art journal.

Today was pretty uneventful. I did my weigh in and found I lost another 1.4 pounds which I am really proud of. I am pretty close to my 5% goal. A little at a time. I can do this. I can actually see myself thin. Again, not skinny but definitely much thinner. I spent my Catherine's cash today but it was going to expire and I had to buy smaller clothes. I am so proud of myself. Totally I am down 17.5 lbs. I think I might actually work out in the morning just to get it started. My friend Cindy and I are going to work out on Saturday. I think it will help to have a workout buddy. Even if it is just once a week.

Oh well,

It's late and I need to get some sleep. 

Until later.

SS

Introducing Stanley

So, this weekend I was blessed to go to the WOF, Women of Faith, conference in San Antonio, TX. It was cool. A pretty good time with great people. Well, the organization World Vision was there and people began to sponsor kids. They are a partner with the conference along with another group that I really think I am absolutely going to get involved with as well. That one revolves around the prevention of human trafficking. 

Needless to say, everyone was grabbing children to sponsor but I held off a little bit. But when I found their booth I could not resist. So, for $35 dollars a week I can help a kid eat, go to school, get medical care, etc.  That was when I began to look around the table and I saw this picture. I was immediately drawn to it. I kept thinking he was saying "Really, you are going to make me take this stupid picture". But when I saw his video I was really impressed and thought, I would like to help this child. I realize just how spoiled/blessed my life is and it past time to give back.

Stanley lives in Kenya and is 8 years old. He lives in a very poor village. However what really touched me was that Stanley is not in school. For those of you that know me understand just how large a focus on education I have placed in my lifetime. For myself and my son.

According to the program we will get a letter from Stanley and I can write back, give additional money, send gifts and check on his progress.  I just really hope he is able to go to school.  I do believe that education is one of the primary ways to improve your social and financial outcome.

I hope you enjoyed my story and wish Stanley the best please.

Until later

SS

She made me

Alright

Here is actually the post for today. I was going to title this post, Cute and Creepy, because it is named after the blog that I post my ATC's to most ofter called Wicked Wednesday but as usual I just went with the theme of the image. 

I am also linking to the Whoopsi Daisy Challenge Blog for the first time. The theme is dots. So please stop by both of them to take a look at all of the wonderful participants.

The wonderful Pile it On Blog has a challenge which deals with humor this week. I can definitely say that I need some of that.

The name of the ATC is "Hello Frankie" and I am positive she is another Mayzy Art image. Colored with Copic markers and come Spica pens as well. I am such a fan of coloring. It is very theraputic.

The background is a basic black card stock but I was able to incorporate a sampler book with design acetate pages into this one. And of course, my signature flowers.  I popped the image up with foam backing and like magic, the birth of an ATC. 

I hope you like my creation and will come back and see my art again.

Until later

SS

Anniversary Day

Inevitably every year this day comes around. And I think about how dramatically my life was altered. I don't think I have ever blogged about it before but I feel the need to put my feelings down to paper (or so to speak).

23 years ago today at about this time my mother died. Yes, while that might seem a little morbid I actually look back on the wonderful things that we did together. The lessons she taught me. The love that she had for me and I smile with wonder at the definition of unconditional love. Being a mother myself I can fully understand this. As, I feel the same way about my son. Who is so much like me it's a little scary. However, other than in looks I wasn't a whole lot like my mother. I definitely exhibit my father's demeanor, sarcasm about life and giving nature. I can only describe this woman as a ROCK. She was more than just my rock. She touched so many lives, in a positive way. She will forever be missed.

But it is definitely on this day now that I can say with such joy I am glad she was my mother and that I was able to spend as much time as I did with her. There are people who never know either of their parents. I think that both of mine were taken away 23 years ago but the fact that I had them for 18 to help guide me to be the adult I am today was a blessing. We forget to often in tragedy that there is a reason and a purpose for EVERYTHING. If we were the authors of our fate we would have failed miserably by the age of 13. (Puberty can be a Bitch)

So, I say this to everyone out there that has lost a loved one. Who is grieving, that it never stops hurting and you absolutely never forget them but you will learn to appreciate the beautiful time and lessons they taught you which makes life just a little bit better. Occasionally you will even smile when you mind comes to them.

Until Later
Shaunda

Remarkable Monday

So, it is almost midnight here but I wanted to make sure I wrote a little something prior to going to bed.  First off, I actually got into my work room and setup the desk at least. I found a few supplies and now I am art journaling. I know I am missing a lot of stuff in boxes but I will unpack a few more this week and hopefully come up with what I am looking for.

I have some social events coming up this week so I need to be aware of my points tally.  right now, I am doing alright, despite going to San Antonio this weekend. I didn't lose my mind. But I wanted to. I remembered to bring a lot of fruit and I ate as little junk as possible.

The first picture is a snap shot of my desk just to prove that I was actually working on an art journal. I mostly just got some backgrounds done today. The second picture is of the art journal I decided to work in. So, check this out. I was in Ross looking for an apron and I saw this journal. Well, the paper is incredible for wet media. More importantly, look at the price. Can you say "cha-ching". 3.99 and there are at least 50 pages in it. I find myself looking for more when I walk into a Ross.  I mean a great buy.

I mostly played with my Dylusion dyes. So, I tried something I saw on you tube. One lady actually diluted the sprays and because they are so concentrated and came out with some muted colors. I did the same. I ended up with about 2/3 water and 1/3 dye. So, it will of course last me longer which means I need to get up off my but and art journal so I can use this stuff.

This layout was done with Tim Holtz distress stains direct to paper and then doing some shadowing with stencils. I believe I used stars. I then came back in with white paint, Claudine Helmuth, with additional stencils. The silhouette is actually a Dina Wakely.

The background for this one was Claudine Helmuth paint (that I had not opened in well over a year and a half). I added some silhouette stencils and some other backgrounds with black. I will absolutely need to add another color. I may do some white or red as accent.

Finally we get to the Dylusions. These are muted. I use a combination of cool and just a splash of warm. I did not want to end up with brown. Overall, I think it came out well. The stencils are from Balzar designs and I just sprayed charcoal soot Dylusions to see what the effect would be.  I will need to figure out what I am going to do with this one.

Alright, so now you can clearly see that I was working. I started roughly 10 double page layouts so as they develop, I will make sure to post.  I haven't made an ATC in at least a month so I need to make sure I get a few of those in this week. I want to catch some challenges.  Most of them are Halloween, so I might need to go an get a page or two printed until I can come up with my laser printer.

Until later

SS

Snapshot Saturday

So, I am going to try something new. One of the blogs I follow, "Caatje's Artsy's Stuff" does weekly posts called Photograph Friday. So I wanted to try that as well but I didn't want to take her title. So, I am going to do "Snapshot Saturday". Not sure why I picked that day instead of Sunday but I am definitely going to try it.

Alright, The picture on the right is of the Emily Morgan Hotel in San Antonio. I spent a night there this weekend at the Women of faith conference. It is now my new favorite hotel in San Diego. It was incredible.  Great service. It is a boutique type hotel so it was updated and had some cool architecture.  It actually had a basement that I understand use to be a morgue.

I absolutely love her simple style of art journaling and it doesn't seem like it takes a lot of time to do it which is the case I have right now. I have a full time career so I have to balance my wants with my needs. Lucky for me I love my day job!  LOL

Amazingly I have not decided what my snapshot will be of yet but since my camera phone takes pretty cool pictures I don't think I will need to drag the Nikon out of retirement. Speaking of the Nikon, I finally decided to take a few more photography classes. I never really took any for the DSLR but I think it is time.

Until Later
SS

Go For It!!

Ok, I am sharing another ATC with you today. Mostly because that is all I have been able to do over the last few months. My crafting space is still in progress so I can't really complain at this time that it's someone else's fault. But I will have this done by the end of the month so I can get in my room.

This creation is from The Greeting Farm. I love Anya and the larger heads are perfect for me to practice my Copic coloring skills.  The background is pretty simple, it's just corrugate. I purchased it at Joann Fabrics in the scrap booking section. I like the way it looks and it stands up pretty well to all of the mailing that i do when they are swapped. Looking at this now I know I could have blended the hair a little better but it's handmade art and is supposed to have some imperfections, RIGHT?  

I am posting this for ATC's with Attitude better known now as Craftitude. I really hope you like my creation.  So I have to go now, I am on a craft buying role and I don't want to miss the sales!!!

Until later
SS

Loving creativity

So, I thought I would start with the creative side of my life before I talked about the normal side of my life. Ok, maybe not. But I just can't help but notice just how unbelievably happy I am right now. Amazingly I have a special friend that like any other interest will sometimes go flaky on you. Make you question whether or not he really cares.  Well, I have learned in my old age, oops.. wisdom, to just let go. I think Mark Twain said it best.  "Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.".  Amen to that.  Amazingly he has been texting. I can't quite get him to call of his own accord. I could imagine that he just isn't a phone person. Which I'm not as well but the occasional conversation would be nice.

Alright, so here is my creative post for today.  This ATC will definitely be linked to "Atc's with Attitude" blog. Which I found out has changed to "Craftitude".  The theme is anything with an S or anything goes. I can definitely do that one.  This one goes with the "S" theme. Snow white is one of my favorite disney characters. Of course I never understood the apple thing but I guess someone has to enjoy them.
I want to enter this into the 4 Crafty Girlz Challenge Blog as well. I just find this one from another blogger. They have an anything goes theme this week.

Until laterSS

My name is Frankie', Baby

Morning Blogger Land

I can't believe I NEVER posted the pic of the ATC Frankie. I absolutely loved making him. He was a Mayzy art design and I had so much fun coloring him and coming up with a decent background.  You can buy him or some of the other great items that she has for sale. He was supposed to be a fun Frankie. I am going to link this to Wicked Wednesday challenge this week.  If anyone was stitched, it was definitely Frankenstein. I actually traded him months ago but of course I keep pictures of almost every ATC I made over the last year.  I love this blog and want to support it in anyway that I can.

I am also linking this with ATC's with Attitude, better known as the new "Craftitude". So I hope everyone loves this little creation of art.

I am also adding this to a new blog I found called "Left of Center". I personally think it is adorable. This is what I could come up with that was Halloween based. Frankie definitely is Halloween based even though he is cute.

My style has changed tremendously over the last few years since I started making ATC's. I really wish I could get together a group that would be willing to meet once a month.  It would be cool to do so that we can see our own styles. I have been on you tube overload the last week.  Looking at all of the different techniques out in Cyber World that I want to try. I am always fascinated by backgrounds. And of course, if you could not tell I have an unusual affection for markers. Copics are my favorite but I pretty much have all of them and I am now determined to use them all. 

Until Later
SS

Share day!!

Hello Blogger Land

Since I spent the weekend being inky painty I thought I would share a little bit of my art journal I started this weekend with you. Again, this page is more my style as I actually like to "journal-write" a little as well in all of my journals and I am thankful Dyan showed us this weekend how we could do that with some of her products.

This page was made using a Dylusions inked background. I used warm colors but I truly can't remember what they were because I seriously had brain overload. A little "ghosting" which really means taking a stencil and spraying a little water over the page through it. It make a pretty cool color lightening effect. Next was a lot of stamping and a little bit of art work by ME. This page is not finished but Dyan wanted us to take pictures to see how they start. it is covered up with book page art and some collage.  I think I might have to crate a few more of these. She also helped us do great separation of colors to better understand which colors work better in combinations.  And of course how to use border and journalling stamps.

Because I have been in the moving phase I have taken a break on swapping. I usually only do ATC's but I needed some time. I am also still in the process of recreating my craft room so that when I want to create it's not an issue.

Officially this is will make my 22 post for this year which is one more than last year, so I am getting better.  I knew it was only a matter of time.  I can't believe that I missed the entire summer for blogging.

Oh well, enough for this. I will say bye for now as I need to actually do my day job.

Until later 
SS

Inky-Painty!!!

OMG
I had the best weekend. I took classes at the Crafty Scrapper down in Waxahachie. I just have to say that Carolyn has one of the best shops I have ever been too. And of course I spent far too much money. So, Dyan Reavely, was there and she taught three wonderful classes that I spent every minute on the edge of my seat.  It was amazing how much we got done over one weekend.  At least 12 to 15 backgrounds and then some great starts to over half of those.

Here is a pic of me and Dyan.  The products are just awesome. She stressed that there is no "right or wrong" way to do this but she was teaching us the way that she did it. I got a chance to look through some of her journals which were amazing.  I will be posting a few of my pages in their varied stages as well.

I also met some great friends, Laurie and Jill,  that are sisters.  Hopefully we will be able to go through some more classes together.

Oh well, enough for tonight. It is time for me to hit the hay.

Until Later
SS

Daniel's Day

OMG

I can't believe it's been over 3 months since I last blogged. That just seems unreal. But oh well. So, I woke up before the crack of dawn to wish my only child a very happy birthday. He turned 22 today. Of course he complained about my waking him up that early but I feel that while I can be the first to wish him a very happy birthday I should be.

So, I have to work today and then go to a social tonight. I actually have had a pretty full social calendar for the last month.  This week I have something planned every night.  

Now to catch you up. YES!! I am back in the land of the living. I am on the right side of the Red River and I LOVE it. In case you didn't recognize, I am back in Texas. For good!!  Still trying to plan a little birthday trip for myself this year. I may end up in Denver. I really like that city but they have had a lot of flooding in the area lately so I am not sure how that would turn out.

I had to take a break on paper crafting for while. Actually it was mostly the swapping. I am putting together my craft room which is taking a ridiculously long time. (More because I am lazy than anything else). However I have renewed my interest in fiber arts and started knitting. (Yes I know! It's a miracle) Being an avid crocheter it was just too hard to get use to two needles but I did it because I wanted to know how. It any case, it is fun so far learning something new.  

I guess I will post an ATC if I can find one. I have to admit I haven't made one in a few weeks but I will get to it as soon as the room is ready.  This image is from Jade Dragonne. One of my favorite Deviantart artists. Her images are perfect for my art journals and ATC work so I have to admit, I use a lot of her stuff.

Oh well, so much for now. I have to actually get around to my day job which will be pretty busy for a Tuesday.

Until later
SS