The chipboard album...that became the unalbum

Here is another of my $.50 finds.  This album started as a Christmas Tree album.  Since I have no intention of making a Christmas album at this time of year...but I had no idea what I was going to do, I gessoed each page until I got an idea.

After the gesso dried, I decided to cut each album page into a triangle.  The triangles would make perfect pennant pages!!


The next step was to cover the page....I found a partial album by K&Co....I have no idea of the name it came in a best of K&Co paper pack and they did not list the name.




I was making this for my gift of 2013 promise to six people, and my niece Susan was one of the people to get gifts.  Susan likes pink so this is a darker pink, but pink none the less.  After I covered the triangles, I embellished. I used some left over letters, a piece of a necklace, Hambly Screen Prints transfers, Prima flowers, leftover ribbon, gems, charms and wire.

Friendship album side 1

This album is being made for a friend of mine. I am again using it as a motivational piece, with some great sentiments.

This is another of my great $.50 album purchases, only this one was purchased near Christmastime and I never had time to do anything with it.  It was a Christmas Tree Ball album, but I have converted it into a circle album.






I usually adhere my paper to chipboard albums using mod podge. I coat the chipboard and the paper then place them together, I use a brayer to remove bubbles and make it flat.

Here is what one side looks like all papered up and ready for decorating.  The bottom photos are stage one of decorating.
There is more to come.

I used some Stampin UP!  butterfly stamps and kindness matters stamp, some stamps (frame) I forgot who made. I think Spellbinders, some of the paper that came with the Rob and Bob paper pack, an owl stamp that was $1 at Michael's, the inks are StazOn and Tim Holtz, t

A serious case of creative block pt 1

I purchased these wonderfully made canvases a few weeks ago. My intention was to make the most stunning three panel painting you had ever seen.  I started it and BLAH! I hated it!  So, I set the whole project aside until I thought what I could do to save these normally expensive canvases.

Today I pulled out the gesso and went to work.  I decided to mix the gesso with three different blues.  I really liked this....I got an idea!!!

Once the canvases dried, I took one of my favorite books and ripped out about 10 pages. Don't panic, it is from the 1980's...it is old smelling and frankly falling apart because SOMEONE has read it way too much.  I bought another copy about a year ago (an even older copy) and I use this one for my art.  The book?  Why "Song of the Siren" by Philippa Carr.  Carlotta Main is a fascinating character.

Anyhoo, with these book pages I made a pattern of a tree that I wanted. Really it didn't start out as a pattern it was going to be the actual tree, but I needed MORE!!!  So it became a pattern.  I then cut the tree from a piece of chipboard.  Completely coated it with mod podge and decoupaged some pieces from the book onto the chipboard.  I still wanted more. I wadded up more book pages, straightened them out and inked them to death.  Many different colors of brown inks.  Sprayed with some Michelle's Musings brown and silver sprays.  Once that dried, I wadded them up and inked again.  These steps seemed to take FOREVER, but the longest step was yet to come.

Once everything dried I tore large rectangles from the pages.  I put on a thick layer of mod podge on the tree and then some on the rectangle.  I could not take a photo of this because it is incredibly messy!  I bunched the rectangle up onto the tree to resemble bark. I had to keep a paint brush with mod podge handy to put in between the bunched up part to keep it looking like bark.  This step took HOURS!!!  It was messy, it was hard to maneuver a 30 year old book page that is fragile to begin with, but I went and made it more so. I ripped many and had to use another section.  I did not want it in pieces I wanted large rectangle so it would be more like bark. 

Once this step was dry, I inked more.  Good gravy I was a mess!!!  My apron was a mess where I had wiped my hands and my craft sheet looked like a ink/mod podge bomb had gone off....but I kept going.  I spritzed this inking with water...then with some sparkle spray.  Let it dry.

I fashioned the tree across the canvas and then I cut it to fit across the canvases.


The last photo shows my plan for the layout, but I am going to be honest, the finished product may not look like that. I won't be able to work on it until next weekend, and I may change my mind. Or I might just start all over again.  Stay tuned for part 2. 

Sunday afternoon good times

This is the album I made today. It is the second chipboard album that I made yesterday.  The Marilyn page is my favorite. The image on the far right is a stencil that I had cut, the other three Marilyn faces are transparencies that I made.  I printed Marilyn faces using my Marilyn dingbat font.  I took packing tape and adhered to the front of the faces.  I pressed it down and even rolled the brayer over each image.  Then I ran warm water along the back and rubbed off the paper.  I LOVE the way they turned out.  This page will actually be added to the album I made yesterday. 


This second album was made for a friend that just recently had to put her dog to sleep.  She is heartbroken and I thought it might help to have a place to reflect on her beloved dog and maybe relive a memory or two.

Trace Creek Crop Completed Projects

One of my favorite days of the year is the Trace Creek Crop.  Yesterday was a day that my friends and I look forward to for months and months.  We got signed up in December and then you impatiently wait until it's here.

I didn't have extremely lofty scrapbooking goals yesterday. I am still until that stupid weight restriction and I wasn't sure I would be able to sit all day. In all actuality I found that I could sit for a while, get up and shop or just walk around and talk and I was fine.

I accomplished 3 scrapbook pages (I am almost finished with the October cruise, then onto the Christmas Harry Potter).  I made one cigar box (which I plan on doing a tutorial to very soon), and 16 cards.

Most of the cards that I made were completed using the Lucille paper pack.  I found this in October at Archivers and it has been a constant favorite since then.  It is reminiscent of the old fashioned clothing patterns my grandma used and the floral papers are very much like the patterns of dress that I wore in the 1970's.  I spent $12 at one of the booths yesterday to get some Lucille chipboard and tags. The other paper that I used was another favorite, Ladies Diary by Graphic 45. 

The dollar bin birdhouse

I found this cute little birdhouse in the dollar bin at Michael's. I decided it would be good in my laundry room make over so I purchased it. It was a paper mâché finish. The first thing I did was gesso the entire thing so I could paint over t and get true colors to my paint.

I chose the colors that I have been using for my other utility room projects. I thought it might be nice to try an ombré effect since e that was so hip. One thing I dot usually rinse my brush between colors. Actually I hardly ever rinse my brush. You can tell, but I really like the effect.

Once my paint dried, I took some walnut stain distress ink and a new dry brush. I brushed the brush against the stamp pad then dry brushed onto the house. The effect turned out nice.

Newspaper roses

I had read somewhere, probably Pinterest, about a girl that made roses from newspapers. I don't recall ever reading how to make them, but decided that I wanted to make some for this utility room makeover thing I am doing. Actually I am planning on framing them.....after I make the frame that is.

Since I didn't read to tutorial I had to make up my own. I took a newspaper that was still rolled up from the driveway and cut the roll into pieces. Quite like you
would if you were slicing bread. My slices were about 1-1.5 inches thick. After I complete the slices, I unrolled the slices and glued them end to end....making a long strip. It did sort of roll up on itself, but I thought that would be easier to make into a rose. I actually used a glue stick to glue my strips together. Then I started rolling. I would roll a bit and then twist the newspaper to make what would appear to be a petal. I just kept repeating the process. When the flower was as large as I desired I cut the strip and glued it under my flower. Then I started rolling the next flower. I got 5 flowers from one a newspaper.


Once I finished with the last flower I started painting the flowers. I used a pink and a red. I poured both into my palette next to each other. I used mostly pink to paint the flower, then I dipped my brush without cleaning in the red. I brushed it too the flower in other parts. Then I loaded my brush with pink and red and went over it again.

I repeated the process with two shades of blue and the same brush. Therefore I got a tad of purple on these flowers.

I liked the effect hope you do too.

Finding Your Happy Place

This Saturday started out earlier than I imagined...the cat started meowing at 4:15am.  Does she not realize it is Saturday?  Silly Cat.  I finally gave up all hopes of sleeping around 6:00am and got up.  First things first, I fed the cat...then I sat at my art table.  My brother-in-law had saved me some old photos and I wanted to use some in something today.  I thought I would look at my favorite creative site CR84FN and do the challenge colors.  The owner had made a new post with this challenge's best projects.  They were lovely!!  I read the post, Mona (the owner) was closing the challenge.  WHAT?  No more CR84FN!  I was so sad. I have played along for a couple of years and the challenges have inspired me to try new things, to think outside of the box, and most of all to not be afraid of my least favorite color.....YELLOW!!!!

I picked myself up and decided to think about something happy.  I thought of a friend who has been on my mind a lot lately.  She is going through an extremely tough time, but you would not know it.  She smiles all day, she offers to pray for others, she works hard, but she is hurting.  What is her secret?  I think it's her faith in God.  She has given her problems to God...praying everyday.  She is pretty wonderful.

I decided to paint and I was going to paint what I thought her soul looked like.  A colorful world, with many flowers, lots of things going on, but still she is wearing a pretty dress.  Her castle represents the Kingdom of God.  It's a pretty deep painting for one afternoon.  As you can see from the painting, I think her soul is a pretty happening place. I am grateful to be her friend and grateful to know her.

What started off as a rough day ended up pretty swell.  

Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

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The painting contains many different types of acrylic paint...apple barrel, craftsmart and Americana.  I used stamps from Technique Tuesday.  Inks by Stazon, red flower made by Ina Champion (my mom-in-law) and is about 30 years old, paper flowers in purple made by Michelle's Musings (hey, that's me), green flower by Prima, yellow flower by Creative Memories.  Leaves cut from green cardstock scraps and the die is by Sizzix.  Castle, clouds, bubbles, happy word and all shapes designed and painted by me.

This painting is dedicated to my friend....may she display it proudly.