Life Outside the Fishbowl

A Quick Peek At What I'm Working On....

I'm breathing a sigh of relief now that Girl Scout cookie season is pretty much over. I've still got boxes in the guest room and a few things to tie up, but that's minor. So now I can get back to spending more time working on projects insteading of reconciling cookie money.

And this is something I've been working on.

The cover of a cool mini book. It's a mix of Little Yellow Bicycle, Jenni Bowlin and Cosmo Cricket. With a piece of wooden frame thrown in.  I wish it hadn't been raining this weekend - it made getting a good photo really hard. I had to settle for the dining room table.

More to come.... when the lighting's a bit better....

Journal Your Christmas 2011

A few more pages I managed to photograph before the snow started this afternoon.

Day 8 is a trading card protector, cut down to three pockets. I used both sides to display a few images from around the area. And it wouldn't be December without Tim's tags ;)

Day 9 - One of the things we get every year is the WH Historical Society ornament. We started picking these up before we were married, so we've got probably around 20 years' worth - and double of some. The bottom paper is Simple Stories. I used an Ali Edwards digi brush on the photo.

For Day 10 I used a Hambly transparency as my base. I'd ordered some Basic Grey fabric squares ages ago and thought I'd incorporate one (since they've been sitting around here!). A bit of October Afternoon, Jenni Bowlin and Tim Holtz....

Days 11 and 12 are back-to-back. I used a full-size photo of our tree this year for the 11th with another digital brush by Ali Edwards. Day 12 features a photo from when we were kids and toys were much less complicated -- or battery-dependent.

And, finally, Day 13. The background paper is Authentique with more October Afternoon accents.

Journal Your Christmas 2011 - Cover

This is my third year doing Journal Your Christmas. Last year I did a combined JYC/December Daily, focusing mostly on what we were doing each day than Shimelle's prompts. This year I'm doing the opposite - pretty exclusively focusing on the prompts. A crazy, hectic month, two cookie exchanges on the same day, and a very sick pet kinda drove me in that direction. As did waiting for materials to arrive....

I'm starting with a 6x9 Mistables wooden album from Pink Paislee. I used a variety of ink, Glimmer Mist, Glimmer Glam and paint on the cover and glued on a felt snowflake ornament I picked up at Target. The snowflake stamps are Hero Arts and I used the crackle stamp from Tim Holtz's Joyful Song set. A painted and embossed wooden "25"  by Kaisercraft sits in the middle of the snowflake with a Maya Road pin.

The inside of the front cover uses paper from Simple Stories'  25 Days of Christmas line and chipboard from October Afternoon.

Supplies Used:

2011 Christmas Planner

Each year I like to put together a Christmas planner. It helps me organize what I need to do during the month - including holding wish lists, reciepts, etc.

This year I started off with some Simple Stories paper and a piece of Claudine Helmuth's sticky back canvas.  I did an image transfer with the paper onto the canvas, which you can see in my video. I like this technique because you get a cool, distressed look. It's easy to do, but just be careful - you will get a mirror-image. So, any text will be reversed. In this case, I didn't care. I was going for pattern and texture.

Once I was done, I stamped both sides of the canvas with ink and paint.  I folded up the bottom of the canvas to make a long pocket. Then it was off to the sewing machine - I stitched around the entire piece and up the middle (twice) to make two interior pockets.

I made two signatures for this book, including a pocket page for the middle signature. Once they were put together I stitched my signatures into my book.

Here's a video I put together to show you the image transfer, making the pockets, and the finished book. Ack! My first youtube video.

 

Steps for the image transfer:

1. Peel off the release paper from the back of the Sticky Back canvas.
2. Place your paper onto the canvas with the image you want to transfer facing the canvas.
3. Burnish the paper.
4. Spray the paper with water and start rubbing carefully. You will be rubbing off the top layer of paper. 
5. Apply a thin layer of matte medium and let dry.

There you have it!

Year.o.graphy

This month's DT kit at ScrapbooksPlus is the Year.o.graphy collection from Simple Stories. As I was digging around in my bookcase this Fancy Pants mixed media album fell out. I had seen it at CHA several years ago and just died. It was beautiful.  And as soon as the store got them in, I greedily grabbed it.

Then, like Shimelle's story of the special paper, I wanted to use it for the perfect project. Vacations came and went... and I contemplated using the book.... but didn't.

So, with a deep breath I decided that NOW would be the right time. After all, I can't enjoy this book if it's still in the packaging hidden in the back of my bookcase, right?

Pretty much everything in here is from Simple Stories. I used the remainder of some KI Memories glitter stickers and one wooden flag from My Mind's Eye.  

And to put it all together I used the Best Glue Ever. This stuff is amazing - I glued paper and photos to felt easily. Just put a thin line of the Best Glue Ever around your items, let them dry until tacky, then flip them over and stick them on. It's really that simple. Even the stickers got a bit of glue.

And adhering paper to transparent pages? Piece of cake!

On the inside I decided I'd pick a photo from each month for my chipboard pages. On the transparent pages and felt I showcase some of my favorite photos from the year.

And since December has just started, I left a spot to add a photo....

Learn Something New Every Day - 2011

A few more pages for my minibook from earlier this month. I'm behind, but slowly making progress. Slowly. And using lots & lots of old alpha stickers & rub-ons!

Ah the joys of summer homework. And of all the things it takes to get the kids to actually do it. Thomas was really good about his summer math packet. Wish I could say the same for Rachel's summer reading.

So on Saturday we found ourselves at the mall. In the Lego shop. And, as usual, the kids wanted toys. I decided to make a bargain with them. They could pick out a Lego (Hero Factory is their new thing) and I'd buy it. However, they could not even open the box until their summer work was done.

And, going along with that.....

The day before school. Things have to be finished. And, although we thought it would be quick & simple (at least for Thomas) it took literally all morning long. Rachel was another story altogether.... tantrums & crying - all over two pieces of paper.

Friday night - we lost power thanks to a tropical storm.  Luckily we had just gotten take out for dinner! After that - game night! We had a fun, racous game of Life. I can't believe my husband never played that game before.

And - finally - the rain was done and the sun came out. It'd been raining since Sunday. And if it wasn't raining then it was dark & overcast.

Learn Something New Every Day - 2011

I've been working on my minibook slowly. A couple minutes here - a couple minutes there. Tonight I took a good half hour and got out all my old Thickers, rub-ons and other assorted alphas to finish a few pages.

Here's two of them:

September 2nd - I tried out a couple of things I was learning in Alissa Burke's online class on surface design. Very free form - I quickly sketched a couple of circles and just started carving. I also learned to watch how deep you carve, as the material will split in two.

Yes, I resorted to bribery to get my kids to quickly finish up their summer homework. They got to pick out Legos at the Lego store - but couldn't open them up or keep them until they were done.

Thomas - worked like a charm. He immediately went to work on the last of his math packet.

Rachel - mixed success. She was interested and finished one book paper quickly, then complained the rest of the day and got nothing done - except for several tantrums. However, she was sick at the time (unbeknownst to us). The Legos did their trick on Wednesday, when she was still home from school but feeling better.

Learn Something New Every Day - 2011

I'm way behind this year and maybe my first lesson should be the theme for this month.

Yup, not only was my schedule turned around and messed up on the 1st, but the rest of the month has followed suit so far. Nothing like passing a little stomach bug 'round the house.....

I also thought it'd be fun to include photos mainly from my iPhone. I usually use the Hipstamatic app, but I recently added Scratchcam and so I've been snapping with those. I also am trying to really use up scraps and older stash. So, I've included old Thickers (really trying to use these up), journaling cards and die cuts from the Girls Paperie (have a whole packet of these).

Here's the backside of day 1. I did a Scratchcam of my calendar.

While I've got bits and pieces done for most of the days inbetween, I was able to put together a page for yesterday in a snap. I signed up for Jen McGuire's Inspiration Showcase and in a burst of energy tried out all the different resist techniques featured on the first day. I'd done some of the techniques before, but never tried a traditional resist. And I learned that I need to stop stamping on my table, as it's gotten a bit warped in the middle {groan}.

So, I took a couple of the pieces I was playing around with and used those on my page. More old stickers and some washi tape.... and you see the Jenni Bowlin paint...

Supplies (best as I can):

Ranger glossy paper, Distress Ink; American Crafts Thickers; Maya Road Sheers; Sassafras Lass paper posies; Girls' Paperie On Holiday die cuts; Hero Arts stamps; Jenni Bowlin foam stamps, ink and paint daubber; washi tape; Tsukineko Memento ink; My Mind's Eye paper; Making Memories tiny alphas; 7Gypsies card and sticker; dictionary paper (Red Lead Paperworks); Luxe rub ons

Learn Something New Every Day - 2011

I'm off to a slow start this year, but that's alright. I spent a good chunk of time yesterday going through my scrap bin, sorting, organizing and purging. One of my goals for this project is to use as many pieces of scraps and older products as I can -- stuff that I had to have, but that's been sitting in my stash since then. And, try to keep it less dimensional this year so that my book will still fit into the binding!

Since it's been raining cats and dogs here, I spent most of the past few days at my desk. I finished the dictionary cover for my Learn Something New Every Day project. I used Jenni Bowlin paint with both a Donna Downey stamp and a new Jenni Bowlin foam stamp (more later!). I layered a bunch of scraps and dug through my alpha sticker bin (and made a bit of a dent!).

Here's the entire cover. I'm thinking right now that I wait until the pages are complete before binding the book - that way it'll be easier to paint and stamp the pages.

Supplies:

Jenni Bowlin: Speckled Egg Paint Daubber, Whimsical Foam Stamps, and Mini Chalkboard alphas, Donna Downey Delicate Flower stamp, dictionary paper, Echo Park For the Record alphas, Studio Calico alphas, Sassafras Lass Script alphas, a Susie Bentz handmade ticket, an old 7gypsies sticker, and a couple other scraps.

 

Learn Something New Every Day - 2011

It's September and time for Shimelle's Learn Something New Every Day. Each day throughout the month you make observations and a page (or two). Last year was my first time with this group and my book ended up thicker than ever.

This year I'm trying something different. I picked up a cover from an old dictionary at Jenni Bowlin's booth at Inspired. I decided to try my hand at binding. I picked up some 8.5 x 11 kraft paper at Michaels to make the signatures. The spine area was quite thin, so I grabbed a scrap of this pink canvas to reinforce it. I'm trying to decide if I should wait before stitching it up or just sew the whole thing together now. Hmm... I think I'll have to wait until Tuesday at least when I can stop by Plaza Arts for the right binding material.

In any case, I'm thinking about how I'll decorate the cover and planning my first page.