lara

This was a very fulfilling layout i did this weekend.
I used pretty much all Gauche Alchemy products!

Lately, I've been really into making my own backgrounds by tearing apart other papers or layouts - so this background is pieces of newspaper from Acme Kit #2 that i wove together to form an approximately 12x12 sheet.



The screen, plastic canvas and punchinella, one of the puzzle pieces and Clue card are also from various GA kits (and kits about to be released!) The other puzzle piece i found in the dirt in a parking lot! :)

The paint swatch with my jounralling is one of the colors i'm thinking about painting my bedroom - i think that could be cool, yeah? A dark lovely warm purple?

Layout for Challenge #2 at Dirty Scraps (the first being on the design team).

This was a hard but good layout to do and I'm so happy there's a new challenge blog making prompts that can really help you dig under the surface.



I did the photos using packing tape transfers - it was a wondrous thing accomplishing in real life the same thing photoshop does! It got my brain juices going about other ways to use opacity and transparency in real life...

And, oh yeah, i did a tutorial on how to do these a couple of months ago at gauche alchemy which is
here.

The other project i did for The Creative Type "neutral" challenge is this feng shui piece.
It's the second of nine for the feng shui project i am doing. The first was for my Prosperity Corner.

This one is for the Creativity/Children gua of my house - which is the back wall of my living room.

My brief summary of what Feng Sui is: you divide your living space up into 9 areas that are called "guas" and each gua represents an aspect of life. it is believed that each gua has an energy that can affect the area of life it corresponds to in a positive or negative way. One way to control the energy and make it positive is using material items.

One website described the Creativity/Children area like this:

The Feng Shui Gua Creativity & Children represents your own creativity. This Gua reminds you to be aware of what stimulates your enthusiasm and playful nature. Focusing on what brings you joy and happiness can restore the delights of childhood. Activate The Feng Shui Gua Creativity & Children with items that will make you aware of your true, child-like nature.

Common "cures" for this area include:
* whimsical wind chimes, mobiles, and whirly-gigs
* arts and crafts supplies and projects
* paint the walls in pastel colors
* create an area where colors, lights, artwork, and music are exciting and uplifting
* round objects
* yellow and white are the strong colors in this area

So now does it make sense?

Now that we have the background - i think that was the longest introduction to a piece i've ever typed - i'll let you know how i made it :)

The type, which is one of the most important parts since it was inspired by The Creative Type challenge i cut from my new Cricut! Of course i don't remember the font now :( But i decided to use "create ________________." because there are soooooooo many ways to end that sentence! "create art", "create happiness", "create music", "create life" ... everyone has their own ways to fill in the blank, i'm sure!



I got the embroidery hoop off of freecycle - and if you don't know what freecycle is i URGE you to visit their site! It's an international non-profit that encourages people to offer things they no longer want/need to other people in their local area instead of putting them into a landfill. And boy howdy have i gotten some pretty nice crafting things from people getting rid of things they wouldn't think of crafty but you and i would! I've also returned the vibe and got rid of three large totes worth of scrapbook stuff last year! As well as half my basement...but i digress (again)



I cut the plastic canvas (soon to be available in a wide array of colors at Gauche Alchemy) to fit in the hoop then tied it in with various ribbon. Then i SEWED, yes SEWED (!!!) buttons on, many of which came out of the White Wedding Mixed Media Kit and the Banana Hammock Mixed Media Kit.

Voila... now, it's hung, and just needs to work it's magic so i can work mine!

(pssst ... P.S. check out my posting of this at Gauche Alchemy for a little challenge from me to you with prizes!)

A couple of art journal pages.



This is for Year in the Life of an Art Journal prompt which is the word "what". I've been saving this image forever - i did NOT draw it - it's from a magazine, although at this point i couldn't tell you which. This was a pretty therapeutic page for me.

As was this:


This is in my general art journal. I call it "In the Eyes of the Jackyl I Say Kaboom" which is a Smashing Pumpkins lyric that has resonated with me since the mid-90s. this really feels like my first true "visual journal" page as there's no journalling but when i look at it i know EXACTLY what i'm feeling and trying to say.

On this page I learned that ink does not dry well on wax paper :)

I was asked to do a Guest Spot on The Creative Type for their latest prompt using Gauche Alchemy color mixed media kits. I made two things, here's the first!

In a bold move maybe only I am capable of, I TOTALLY misunderstood the prompt they wanted me to do, but being the lovely ladies that they are, they worked it into their posting. The prompt was to create a "neutral" piece, somehow i translated that as monotone, or one-color.

I chose PINK. After all my favorite movie of all time, and one that really shaped the person i am today, is "Pretty in Pink" - I mean when Andie makes that prom dress out of Iona's old vintage dress and the monstrosity her dad bought her, it's pure inspiration! (Even though i never quite understood why the dress turned out kind of lame, even for mid-80s fashion standards).

oh, ooops, i digressed...

What i made.... is a wall hanging - in fact it's hanging in my kitchen right now and makes me smile everytime i see it!
The base is Ouchless Cardboard from the GA Artfire store. I put down white tape to give more texture, then used pink and white acrylic paint to create the background:



I then grabbed this piece of vellum and put down the chipboard letters and sprayed "Merlot" Glimmer Mist over the top creating the masking effect. I love that when it is hanging I can just barely see through the letters to the back of the piece. But, the main thing to remember with The Creative Type challenges, is it's all about the type - so i really wanted it to be the centerpiece.



To pull the "half box" together I punched holes in the top and bottom and used that pretty ribbon to hold it together - and i punched two holes and grommeted the "create" vellum to hang it from the top.

And then the fun came in decorating it with all the little tidbits that come in the Pink Parts mixed media color kit!



I can't say enough about how awesome these kits are - AND affordable! And no two are the same! I WANT THEM ALL!!!!!



(That clear button of the nude woman is actually from my own collection - I have NO idea where i got it, but i have a couple of them, i just thought she looked cool there :))

(pssst ... P.S. check out my posting of this at Gauche Alchemy for a little challenge from me to you with prizes!)

TOOT AGAIN!!!!!



The Creative Type Guest Designer rocking the Gauche Alchemy Products!!!!!!!

More specific project info to follow.....

For Challenge #1 at Dirty Scraps:
scrap a PEEVE, annoyance or a downright angry moment...
but here is the twist...
on the same page find something positive in that aggravation and put some perspective on it.



The photos are from the first two weeks of January and the results of the 365 Photo Project I am doing (again) this year. But it's been a struggle in more ways that just remembering to take a photo every day! So, i decided to scrap about that.

I literally swathed my sheet with Modge Podge then threw down all 14 photos in a pile - no rhyme or reason. Then to grunge it up (maybe a little too much in retrospect but i haven't used Glimmer Mist in soooooo long) I Glimmer Misted them.

I'm doing a photo mosaic every two weeks of the photos, don't really have plans to always do a scrap page or art journal with them, but they're there if i need them - here's the first:


Oh ... and by the way ... you'll be seeing a lot more dirty scrapping as I have been asked to join their design team!!!!!!! WOOT! I am so excited about this - the challenges are going to be awesome awesome ways to focus on growth and exploration!

THE PROMPT: Kiss My ASS
THE SONG: Bad Reputation by Joan Jett
PRODUCT/TECHNIQUE: Chain

it's the new gutter girlz prompt!
oh how much i love to say "kiss my ass"
not quite as much as "kiss my grits", but almost as much.

For some reason lately i've really been into deconstructing and reconstructing things like paper.
The background for this is paper i've had for years but thought was too pretty and dominant to do anything with - so i just cut small strips out of it and used it all.



The lips i have NO IDEA where i got them from (and they're actually an iron-on!).
i know i've had them for awhile but never knew how to use them.
i LOVE when i can finally find uses for items i was "saving"!

The chain is from Ace Hardware - it was silver that i ran across my black ink pad to grunge up a little. The electrical tape i journalled on is ALSO from Ace Hardware - imagine that?!

speaking of "kiss my grits" i have so EXCITING news i can't share until tomorrow but start humming "there's a new girl in town..."

art journal page - another image courtesy of a french paper company paper sample book using one of my words for 2010 as inspiration - evolve.

screen and sticker letters from gauche alchemy. hardware from Ace Hardware :)

did a "comfort" layout last night that didn't involve alot of thinking, but still was just doing something. i have the "staring at the blank canvas" syndrome these days.

I tore a bunch of paper samples up from "French Paper Company" which has the most delicious paper sample books EVER that I've been hoarding for over two years now (and luckily since i'm in the printing business get for free every now and then), and then did some of my favorite bottle cap stamping.

Looking at it and all the circles that coincidentally were on the page the first word that came to my head was "evolve" for some reason...
Since "evolve" isn't really a circular word...
So, i slapped on some puffy stickers i've had FOREVER and never thought I'd ever use (which also coincidentally had circles on them), then grabbed the ballerina card and punchinella out of one of my Gauche Alchemy kits which made it feel more like something was "evolving" from whatever the circles represent which to me is kinda of being stuck in the same place.



Voila, short, simple but sweet.
I think i've decided my word for 2010 should be "simple". At first i liked the idea of "evolve" but now simple seems to be the key to day to day happiness.

Another layout i got done this long weekend is one that has been about a year in the making :)
And it's actually more traditional scrapbookee too.



Apparently i was using this sheet of paper as a paint palette around Dec 2008, as there's a stamped date on it. The paper was from a layout i was doing that i remember wanting to tear apart because i hated what was happening, but instead i just took off the things i could, and left things that were more glued down (like the felt lace and blingies and tape) and then used it as a paint palette for awhile.



Then it was put away and not seen again until this weekend when I was reorganizing everything and found it.



The U2 song, Running to Stand Still, has always been one of my favorite. It's really about heroin addiction, i've read, but lately the lyrics speak to me so boldly. This weekend as I was cleaning I put on all of my U2 DVDs - Rattle & Hum, ZooTV, Popmart, Vertigo, Elevation ... and during the ZooTV performance of this song i just sat mesmerized and realized it's just about someone stuck in their own circumstance and trying so hard to get out of it, but not really getting anywhere. Um ... ME.



SO, i took this little photo of me i also found in my cleaning that i had printed out a looooong time ago for the 2008 365 Challenge and it seemed to fit perfectly in the blob of white paint! Like the angel hugging me. Not to much else had to be done to make this a beautiful layout!

Another project I started January 1st is doing the 365 Photo Challenge again.
I did it two years ago, made it through to mid-August before my life BLEW up and the last thing on my mind was taking photos. Recently I found the journal i was keeping with the photos from Jan 1 mid August and although I couldn't actually look at it, it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too painful in a really really painful way, i'm glad i have it. So in 5-10 years when the sores are not so raw i can see the year that changed the course of my life through photos.

Anyways, long story short, 2010 will be my year of renewal and i am doing this project again. And to go along with it, this time i made a art journal to use for the entire year. It's alot like the one i made for my friend Sarah, so this will also put it through some testing because ultimately i think i could sell these.

So, the journal is comprised of 4 envelopes of varying sizes, 2 page dividers and 12 sheets of paper. The cover is a Scrabble Board I got in the latest Gauche Alchemy kit to be released very very shortly. The wire flower I came across as i was unpacking/organizing this last week - my friend Matthew made it for me back in college, possibly about 1991. It was a necklace but i took it off the string and hung it on the book. It's a reminder of evolution, creativity and friends.

Behind the cover is a "Privacy Please" door hanger from my Spain vacation a couple of years ago. And then there are a couple of different size envelopes for me to stuff full of different ephemera i pick up along the year.



There are 12 sheets of paper in the binder - one for every month, and every day i'll make a little note about the day or the photo i took that day. The big Office Envelope in the back is folded to be about 8.5x11 - at the end of each month I'll print all 30-31 photos out on a sheet of paper mosaic style and put in the envelope.

This is a huge project for me. For one, I am uber-ashamed and sensitive about my appearance these days so to force myself to look at myself will hopefully also force myself to start living healthy again. And hopefully as i look back along the year I can see a change from the washed out, bloated, zombie i am now to something not quite as distasteful in the future.

Thanks Margarethe, Sarah and April for the inspiration to revisit this project - i look forward to sharing notes with you along the way!!!!

Before:


AFTER


I actually achieved cleaning and organizing my craftroom this long weekend!
It's been an ongoing project for about 3 weeks now.
I really didn't think i would ever get it done to my satisfaction, and truth be told it's not truly organized well, but it's a start! Things are labeled and put into loose categories.

It's in the 2nd bedroom of my house - also a guest bedroom for those rare times i have a guest who wants to stay the night. That's a futon in the corner.



OK, this is the main table - everything i use on a regular basis is on it plus little odd pieces of ephemera and tiny scraps. I don't like the tape box, but it'll do until i get some sort of rod or something to put them on. Haven't got a chair yet, except for my kitchen chair which is a little too tall (it's like a bar stool height). I generally have always stood while i work because i like to dance around, but i have noticed this last year my back and feet starting to hurt alot more when i stand for hours, so sitting won't be too much of a compromise. And if i want to dance, i can always butt dance! Or just get up.



The secondary table - i bought these three plastic drawer thingies over a 2 week period and was SHOCKED to find that they fit PERFECTLY under the table. I mean - vertically and horizontally with hardly an inch to spare! I like that the drawers come out and go in so easily - i have them semi-organized so if i'm looking for a piece of paper i can pull the whole drawer out and put it on my workspace. Some of the drawers i just filled with all sorts of odd scraps so it's kinda inspirational sorting through the whole drawer and i've already had the experience of looking for one thing but then finding something even better!

Now that i have things as organized as someone like me could (it's a hereditary thing, my family SUCKS at both organization and hoarding), i need to personalize the room on a whole now that i know I am living in this house for awhile. I definitely want to put up an inspiration board, get some better lighting and art on the walls. but all in good time ... all in good time.

Hopefully this room will provide a comfortable place for inspiration and motivation for the upcoming year/s!

(i still can't believe i got this done!)

Just a couple of photos of the two art journals i completed in 2009.
They look so delicious together :)

Art Journal #1 is a general art journal i kept.
The other journal is from Year in the Life of an Art Journal project. I look forward to taking a photo 12 months from now with this years "Year in the Life and last years!