Exciting personal news!

I have two very important and exciting things to share today!

First, my youngest daughter, Sara, is engaged! Her boyfriend proposed on Saturday. It was a surprise to her, but the entire family has known for about a month. He asked our permission in August when we were all together in Austin for my oldest daughter's birthday.

Isn't her ring beautiful? Charles designed it himself.

AND...

We are going to be grandparents again! This little guy (Drew) is going to have a sibling in early March. Here he's all decked out in his new soccer uniform and indoor shoes (which he loves!).

We are over the moon excited about both announcements. 2015 is going to be wonderful!

New Halloween/Fall Class Projects

The last few weeks I've been busy creating lots of fun Halloween and Fall projects for our new classes at The Little Blue House. They debuted at our Open House last Saturday.  I will show my projects here, but be sure to head over to the LBH blog to see all the wonderful projects available!

First a layout - "Fall is Simply Delightful"

Last year we started making "treat jars and lids" for every season.  You create the jar once and then the lids and wraps are interchangeable.  This is the new Mummy Lid and Wrap for Halloween and the Scarecrow Lid and Wrap for Fall.

The pumpkin mixed media canvas is a companion to one I did two years ago. That one was round and done on a 12x12" canvas. This pumpkin is taller and done on an 11x14" canvas.

And, back by popular demand, is the Halloween Haunted House canvas from last year. This was the first in a series of four seasonal house canvases I did. Many people didn't start until the spring house and wanted to finish out their series. This is actually last year's sample - the new version will be very similar but will use current papers.

So many projects! And next week we'll be starting our holiday/Christmas ones. Can you see why I've not been blogging?

September 11. 2001

This day 13 years ago changed our lives forever and cost many thousands their lives. 

LET US NEVER FORGET!

As the mother of two flight attendants, I pray daily that this will never happen again.

August RCADs - Part 2

As I was uploading these, I realized that I actually made 32 cards in August (two on one day - guess I got mixed up counting). So bonus points for me.

Stamped background and washi tape, vellum quote, doodles

Paper strips cut from leftovers from other project and handwritten quote, sandwiched and stitched between 2 pieces of acetate, hand-carved leaf stamp

Stenciled background, bird images, leaf trim

Scraped paint, modeling paste through ledger stencil, hearts and border cut from painted scrap paper, bead trim

To commemorate my birthday: paint, spray ink, same stencil as above, collage image, fibers

Bits and pieces removed from an old CHA M&T I discovered in my stash

Painted scrap background enhanced with yellow lines, embossed stamp, gold paint splatters

Painted and stamped background, modeling paste imprinted with bubble wrap, washi tape, stickers

Crumpled masking tape background with spray inks, collage images

Silver Distress Paint resist with Distress inks, collage papers

Distress ink, modeling paste, stamp with gesso; large concentric circles in background stamped with rolled jean hem

Paint, spray inks, stamps, drywall tape, flower colored w/ Inktense pencils and WC crayon

Masked watercolor and pen work - can't see iridescent pen on dandelion head

Paper and lace collage - old photo of my maternal grandmother

Paint and drawing exercise from online "Journal Soup" class - exercise 3

Spray ink and stamped background; wanted to use this quote

Watercolors dripped on watercolor paper, pen doodles to emphasize flower shapes, stamped words

August 2014 Rolodex-Card-a-Day Art Journaling

August was a good month! Despite the many birthday celebrations (my husband, daughter, son-in-law, daughter's boyfriend and myself all had birthdays within one week!) I managed to keep up with the Rolodex cards and finished one per day for a total of 31! I think that's a first. (Of course, I cheated a bit, doing a couple some days when I knew I was going to be busy or gone for other days. But, hey, they count, right?!)

So, without further ado, I present the August RCADs (Part 1).

Scrap strips of paper, hand carved leaf stamp, punched flowers

Painted scrap background, sticker, doodles

Paint chip background, metal heart embossed with chunky white EP, flower punched from painted deli paper scrap 

Cut from drink coaster from AG retreat

Painted background, circles are painted scraps, homemade enamel dots from Perler beads

Scrap ink sprayed paper, tinted Whipped Spackle through star stencil/Stickles

Spray ink background, stamp, mulberry paper, collage sheet image, sewing

Paper collage - my BFF and me (age 5?)

Marbled shaving cream background and vellum quote

Spray ink scraps, new stamps

Distress Ink on stencil, spritzed with water and then "stamped" on paper

Crumpled tissue paper and mustache bag on background, collage images, mustache sticker and washi tape

Collaged napkin and stamped quote

"Messy" painted background, hand-carved leaf stamp, sewing

Spray ink background and new Dina Wakley heart stamp

Catching Up on Art Journaling

It's been awhile since I've posted new art journal pages so here are a few I've done recently.

I did these first two as examples of using alcohol inks for my art journaling class.  The first was done in my smaller Dylusions Art Journal. Since alcohol inks work best on a non-porous, glossy surface, I decided to try using gel medium on the page. It worked well! I also did some alcohol ink "splats" using a straw and blowing closely at the drops. You can also use canned air.

This page is in my larger Dylusions Art Journal. This time I completely covered the page with a crinkled brown glassine bag I had. Since this is less porous than regular paper, it worked well on the background. I added some stamping and stenciling with white gesso which resisted the alcohol inks somewhat. The three smaller butterflies were stamped on glossy paper and colored with alcohol inks. the larger butterfly was stamped on clear plastic packaging, colored with alcohol inks and heated slightly until warm and then molded.

These next two spreads were created for the "using up your scraps" lesson for the art journaling class.  On the first spread I gessoed the background and then applied various watercolor inks and stains. Then I randomly glued on small bits of paper scraps, taking care not to cover the entire surface.  I embellished with more paper quotes and washi tapes. 

For this page I covered the entire background in cut squares of book text. Then I used ink sprays, dripping and blotting so the text wasn't completely obscured. I also added droplets of water over the page and then blotted the color up in places to get more texture. It's hard to see in the photo, but the  cut edges of the papers give the page even more texture. I stamped and added the fun quote (from an old  Paula Best stamp).

The next page is from some personal playtime.  This is small, done on an old manilla index card divider, approximately 5" x 6." I signed up for an online class, Journal Soup by Kate Crane, and this was the first lesson. I followed pretty much exactly what she did as I miraculously had all the same supplies! Not my usual style but I love it! That's a white glassine bag on the right which holds some miscellaneous quotes and bits of papers.

Are you ready for my August Rolodex-Card-A-Day posts? I will be back tomorrow with the first half.