Writing Wednesday: My first writing only post

So, I have had this book "642 Things to write about" by 826 Valencia for over a year. I thought I might take a try at responding to one of the prompts inside. Since I am using the creative side of my brain I am definitely going to start somewhere in the middle.

And the prompt is....
Your dog has decided to learn a language.  Convince him why French would be a good idea.

So, my dog's name would probably be Pierre. The reason he would want to learn French is so that we can travel to the South of France and not be made fun of. He would also probably want to be up on the "language of love" in case he meets a hot, single, french "poodle" and needs to know how to Mack her up.  : )

Alright
That was a little bit fun. I will write in the journal somehow that I actually did that one in case I want to take this to a type of series for a day of the week. It might help me journal a little more frequently.

Alright
Until next time

SS

A little more art journaling

It seems as though I am taking a small pause from quilting.  Not very long I assure you but I wanted to get some art journaling in. I also bought a few new supplies, (I had not done this in a while).  Here is one of the layouts I did over the weekend. I don't know if it is really complete but I will post it anyway.

The base is distress stains on a journal. I then doodled everything with a Pitt Big Brush white pen and micron pens.  The image is from Some Odd Girl.

I met someone this weekend that suggested I take pictures at different stages of my work and explain the process. I may try that one day. My process is normally to make the backgrounds first.

Oh well
Until later

SS

100th post

Yes

This is officially my 100th post. It took me a while to get here. Absentee blogging, changing hobbies, and then just that thing called life.  I have committed to myself that I will blog more. I really do like to share ideas and thoughts with like minded people. Most of my entries are centered around my crafting. Occasionally I include my family, most frequently my son.  

I will have to be off work for a few weeks. In which case I need to get my house together before that happens. I will clean out my craft room if it kills me. So that once I can move I won't have to do that stuff. I figure if I really put my mind to it and do a little every day I can have it done in 3 weeks, perhaps 2 1/2. I just came from NSD at DCM. That would represent National Scrapbook Day at Dallas Crafters Marathon. As usual, I met tons of great people. It was awesome to hang out with fellow crafters. I even managed to art journal. I got roughly 6 layouts pretty much complete and several backgrounds.  Once I get the craft room together I will focus on doing backgrounds and texture at home and then when I go to DCM I can bring a minimal amount of "junk" (I mean supplies). : )

There were a couple of people interested in Art Journaling. I know it can be addicting.  I love going back in my books and seeing what my thoughts were in years past. The visual method for me seems to work better. Hopefully over the next few weeks some of us can meet up and enjoy crafting again.

Here is one of the layouts that I did over the last 2 days. As you can tell I am still into the big focal images. Both girls were colored with Copic Markers. I did use my Eclips by Sizzix to do Print to Cut. I love the feature. Sometimes it can be a little fickle with getting cut lines but for the most part it gets it done.


The layout was made with distress stains for the background, I doodled in the signo white gel pen, micron marker and some of the metallic gelly roll pens.  The image on the left is definitely from Kenny K.  I honestly don't remember where I got the image on the right.

Until Later
SS

One more art journal post

Hi Everyone

Here is another blog post for you. I was crafting over last weekend and had a little time to play. This one is in my "Comet" journal. It holds all types of media well and has a great price point.

I did this one with Distress stains. Which are absolutely one of my favorites to work with. I wanted to just play so I did some dots with the blotter top and it was like magic. The page just appeared. I am sorry, I don't remember which exact ones I used.  They were part of my cousins stash.

I used a Micron 08 pen to draw the circles and a Micron 02 pen to write the words. The words are inspirational thoughts for me to embrace. All of the doodling was done with a Micron as well. I used some of the small block stamps for accents. Wink of stella brush markers are the metallic coloring.  It was a very quick and easy page to display some creativity.

Until next time
SS

I have started again

Hey Blogger world

I started art journaling again. I was in Chicago with family over the weekend and we decided to do a day of crafting. I just happened to bring my set of Pan Pastels with me for this trip. I only had one day to play but we had fun.

This was a page from one of my favorite "Comet"art journals.  I look high and low for these and buy them up every chance I get. They handle wet background techniques well. They even stand up to my Copic markers.  

Here is a page I did with Versamark and pan pastels. I still can't get over how easy this covers a page. And a little fixative afterwards to seal and you are on your way. I am still looking for a good pen to use on these pages that won't cost me a fortune. In the meantime I am using my Pitt Faber Castel pens and I used the Big White Pitt pen for the lettering. All of the doodling was done by me. Not a lot but I enjoy it.  The metallic accents were done with Sakura gel pens. I have a ton and decided it was time to use them.

The stamp was something my cousin had laying around. (literally)  I should have taken a picture of the page she did while playing with the pan pastels. The purple and yellow flower was absolutely gorgeous.

As you can see I started signing all of my work. My cousin encouraged me a couple of years ago to start.

I am crafting this weekend so these babies will definitely be put to use.  In any case. I hope you like it. Please feel free to comment. I would love the feedback.

Until later
SS

The last of the Three

So here is the last quilt that I did during my recent long arm session. It is called "Bacon and Eggs".  It is a pattern I got from my LQS in Lewisville, TX called, Quilt country.  It is primarily 2 1/2 inch strips or you can use a jelly roll. You then add the spot of color for the blocks and then you are done. I chose pink for mine.  I have so much black and white fabric that I may do another one, I would probably do yellow this time.

And yes, you can tell that I really could care less how my hair looked for this picture.

Just one more quilt

Yes, I am still trying to finish up quilts that I have started. I might actually give this one to my kid. Here is another quilt that I did entirely out of scraps. One of the local quilt shops I frequent has a sit and sew day. Occasionally I will go and there was one lady that had a little talk with me about "disposing of" scraps. Needless to say, she was right. This scrappy four patch is what came out of it.

My latest escapades

Yes
I have been horribly absent as of late but I wanted to let you know what I have been up to for the last few months. I have been extremely busy at work. But I managed to find a new hobby. I new, very expensive, hobby. Although, it takes me to my happy place so I am not going to complain too much.

So yes, I am QUILTING. It takes me to my happy place. I went to quilt a few that I had pieced together some months ago. Now, I just have to bind them. 

I plan on doing a long arm quilting session ever couple of months. I managed to get 3 quilts completed today. I would have taken be forever on my sewing machine. Although, I have never tried to do free motion quilting on my new machine.

In any case, I hope you like it.

Another Canvas

Here is another Canvas that I created. I used a Kenny K Image as the focal point.  I really like coloring. I never realized just how much it calms me. I have been trying to figure out what I will pack for my trip. The copic markers are DEFINITELY on the list.  And yes, I like the color combination as well. I wasn't fond of it when I started but somehow it redeemed itself.

Alright,

I honestly don't have much else to say so I will end for now.

Until later

SS

A New Creation

Most of the time the art I create is either an ATC, Crochet or art journaling. I wanted to branch out a little. Here you will find my art on Canvas. I actually went to a retreat (Crafty Creations)  and created 6 (yep that is correct) 6 canvas creations. So, Here is the first one and my favorite. I gave this to the retreat owner. I liked my time so much. Hopefully they like it as part of the decor even more.

I made this with my Julie Fei Fan Balzar stencils. I really loved how it turned out. I also love the color combination.  I like most of her work. It's not exactly my style but she has some really good techniques.

Oh well

Until later

SS

Have no clue what to say

I know that is entirely odd for me but I am here this morning wondering how I approach a blog post. For the first time, I am a little speechless.  Oh well, I do have a layout for you so I supposed I should get started on that.

Here is another one I did with my Cricuit Cartridge ladies as the focal point. You may not be able to tell but the dresses are glitter paper. You can never have enough bling. I added the washi tape. (Because let's face it. I could stand to have a little less washi tape on hand.)  Background is dylusions and I did all of the doodling myself. I have really tried to focus on this and get better.

Alright
That is enough for today.

Until later

SS

Another Art Journal Layout

As you know, I am fascinated with art journaling. I like the freedom it allows me to be creative while not having to follow rules or lines or anything else. (Yep, you guessed it. I am not really a rule follower)

What's up Bloggerland?

Here is another entry I did at least 7 months ago. I had put down the creativity for a little while but luckily I have picked it back up. 

This one was done with dylusion sprays and stamps as well. I added some embellishments and there you have it, a bonafide layout. I also used some washi tape. When I realized just how many I have I just knew I had to start getting rid of it. I actually enjoy the purchasing of these items. Just to let you know how much I have, I need to use 75 rolls before I can even think about buying one more inch, much less roll of washi tape.

The guy is HOT, right?  I am still thinking about adding a little something to the white jeans. I just think I would feel better if they had a little black accent. (No pun intended). 

Oh well, it' time for me to say good night.

Until Later

SS

Past pieces

Well howdy, I wanted to get this post in while I had a minute of time. 

This is actually a layout I did almost 9 months ago. I had just come off of my classes with Dyan Reavely and was really into just spray back grounds. I of course had to use some of her famous magazine pictures and accent those with white paint pen, white gel pen and then some pitt pens and microns.
Amazingly, I am up at almost 2:30 am. I am tired and sleepy but not enough to just fall asleep. Now imagine that. In anycase, I hope you like the layout.
I am going to link this to the web blog A creative Romance. They have an anything goes theme. I hope you all like the layout.  I am linking as well to Simon Says Stamp Blog Wednesday Challenge. This one is create your own background. Clearly I have done that!!!

Until later
SS

My favorite color.

Hey Everyone,

Happy Saturday. I know, the weekend is already half over but let's just bask in the "gloriousness" ..yes, I made this word up... of those 48 hours of free time.

It's been a while since I put up an ATC on my blog but I saw a challenge I wanted to join and thought this would be as a time as any to start. Wicked Wednesday is one of my favorite blogs so hopefully they like this one. So, again, my favorite digital artist is Kenny K or Kenny K downloads. I just love him. His images are fun and edgy at the same time. Definitely reminds me of my personality. The background is made out of a paint chip sample. I actually really like them and they are an excellent way to recycle. I actually did a few punches with these as well which come out awesome. The next link is crafts 4 eternity. They also have the favorite color combo theme.

So, my favorite colors could easily be blue and orange. I went to college at University of Illinois and I wore a lot of blue and orange during my life time. Not to mention I grew up in Chicago so I have my share of Chicago Bears gear which also has the blue and orange theme.

This cute image is used in a few of the projects that I have but I wanted to make her blond for this image to go along with the blue theme.

In my 642 things to write about journal the prompt is " If you could invent a machine to do one chore for you, what would it be? How would that machine function?".  That is so easy. I would invent toilet bowl cleaner It would attach to the toilet bowl and do scrubs around and down. That is absolutely my most HATED chore. In fact I literally just grab the brush and scrub for one day, take a break until the next day because I am so traumatized by toilet scrubbing. : )

Until later

SS

Just one more new hobby

Yes,

It's me again. My life has gotten pretty busy again. I am happy about it though. I can't stand being bored. So, I get to be home for 2 weeks straight. Ya, gotta love sleeping in your own bed. So, I have taken up quilting. Yes, I know.  Me, quilting??? I can barely sew a button on but I am giving it a go. I bought a new sewing machine. One that is pretty simple but I really want to try doing rag quilts. Of course. I am not going to give up my other hobbies. In fact, I had a wonderful creative weekend that I still have a lot of stuff to share but I will get to that in a minute. 

So here is the share for today.

I am still in love with my Kenny K images.  I have pulled out the stops with the Copics again. I had to hold off on adding to the collection until next month. But I definitely will be doing that soon.  This page was done with a background of Tim Holtz Distress stains. They are always good for a quick background.  I have been trying to figure out how to get more depth in the background on this. But I think when I do my cruise this year this will definitely be in my supplies list. I have been trying to figure out something that is a little less messy to take but will still allow me to have some freedom for creation.  I actually chose to post this one on the Kenny K Crew's challenge blog. It's anything goes this time.  I also want to link this to Crafting from the heart. They also have a theme of anything goes this week.

One thing I want to try as well is journaling. I actually bought a book that has 642 things to write a about. Not sure why but I really wanted the items in here. I think it would be a really cool thing to do as a round robin type journal. Someday.. The first one i looked at it is " Write a witch's spell"

"round and round, spin today. Look to the North and start to say..  I am beautiful, I am great. Now cover your face so that you cannot see.. Because the person inside is what you really want to be."

Ok, Enough of being corny, until later.

SS

The Other Woman

So, I have had this movie for about 3 weeks and have not watched "The Other Woman". I have to say that this is pretty funny. Not "Bridesmaids" funny, but pretty damn funny.  Not to mention that the main male character is Jaime, from Game of Thrones. LOVE HIM!!!  And the secondary male character is the hot guy from "Chicago Fire".  He is definitely "do-able".

I have continued to create this weekend. Still focusing on the main objects for the page layouts.  I really didn't paint at all this session. I did some sprays and I started playing with my Wendi Vecchi embossing paste.

Hope you like this page and have a blessed Sunday.

Again, I love my digital images, wink of stella and Copic Markers.  Who needs more??

Until later

SS

Crafty Creations

So, I am at a retreat this weekend. I got an e-mail from a friend telling me about it. So I had no plans and figured I would try it.  It is pretty cool. The owner is really nice and overall I like the place. I absolutely love that I didn't have to bring anything. Everything that I would need pretty much is here. I did a little shopping with the group but of course I don't need anything.
I have been creating. I actually brought my copic markers.  I have been coloring up a storm. I found a blog a couple of nights ago that has copic color of the day. This blogger uses different copic color combinations and comes up with a new color name. I am trying to recreate what she has on the cards by creating my own samples. So far I am in "need" of a lot of copic markers. LMAO

Here is one of the pages I created this weekend. I did some backgrounds but I really wanted to focus on getting pages done.  Hopefully you like it. I used mostly sprays for this background and then I focused on the main image.

Oh well, I hope you like the page.

Not a morning person

So, I have definitely come to terms with the fact that I am just not a "morning person". I mean, there are times where I can be downright mean if my sleep is broken. I don't get much to begin with but if you wake me up before 7am it is on. I am not afternoon sleep in person. I guess you really can't be when you have a career but I would much rather work from 8 to whenever and then if needed work later. I don't mind putting in the hours but can we make it after 8am. LOL

So my next creation is from a few months ago. I am a fan of magazine articles so I try to take advantage of the tons of them I have from friends.  This one was done with Dylusions sprays and I was in my washi tape mode as well. I can't begin to tell you how much of this stuff I have. I absolutely refuse to buy one more roll until I have used up almost all of this. I believe I will have to start doing some Christmas cards and make my decoration a washi tape tree. But just how many of those can you do?  I don't have that many addresses. (LMAO)

I am definitely into the warm backgrounds.  I am going to start putting more on my pages for backgrounds. I find that while I don't like a lot of texture I do like depth.

In any case, I hope you like this one. As you can see, i also did a little journalling on the page. I plan to do a little more of that where I see feasible.  Until later.

SS

Ok, I know I am on a roll now

Yes,

I love Blogging. I don't think it's because I really want to share every little thing in my life but it is definitely an outlet for my emotions.  I consider myself a pretty happy person.  Overall I have accomplished almost everything I thought valuable to me over the last forty something years of my life. Don't get me wrong, there is much still to come but so far so good. 
 I fell into art journaling about 2 years ago. I absolutely love it. I am pretty obsessed actually. My goal is to try and get at least a couple of pages done a week. I normally spend 4-5 hours on a page. That would include backgrounds. My new favorite Youtube artist is the lady on jogglesllc. I love her work. She is so quick and really inspires my own personal style. If you have never seen it you should take a look sometime. Oh well, enough of the blabbering. Here is the art journal page for the day. This one was done with dylusions and then I just did some doodling. The figures are from the Cricut "forever friends" cartridge. You can't get it anymore at regular stores. It is one of the few cartridges that I have and love. One day, I was at DCM and started cutting these and a friend gave me some of her paper scraps that she was going to throw away. Well, I ended up making these into a bunch of these girls. Now, I use them in a bunch of my page layouts.

I am a doodler, I am trying to practice so that I get better I don't exactly have the expertise of someone that has done it all her life but each day I get better. I am working on pages that do just that so I can perfect the art.  The one thing that is not on this page is extra background art. You can tell that it leaves a little something to be desired. I think this layout needs depth.You never know, I might go in a couple of weeks and see what stamps I can add to help bring out the color scheme,

Until then,

SS

Back in the saddle

Here is the coordinating page to my post on 8/25. So I have to admit, I am a Twilight fan. Not the books but the movies. Someday I will explain why without sounding so self righteous. However I am a triangle love theme junkie. Now, I like Jacob. I am definitely team wolf but I could not pass up this image of Kristin. She is not exactly Bella here but close enough.  She has the same background as Michonne has and I did the hand embellishing as well. The only difference is that I used some washi tape on this layout. But since I have over 100 rolls I figure that was a good way to start getting rid of it.
I recently asked a friend of mine how many pages a month she gets done in her journals. She was estimating 5 or 6. I think some months I am on that but if I would have to average it out I am more like 3 or 4. So ask me why do I continue to by journals? I am clearly a collector. My new commitment it to use the stuff I have and believe me I have a LOT of stuff. I was successful this weekend. I did not go to Michael's, Joann's, or Hobby Lobby once. I think I will be at least 50 before I go through the craft room I have.  Needless to say, here is the journal page. I hope that you like it.

Alright, until later. 

SS