Friday, March 30, 2012

What a Week!

 Well, those of you who follow me on Facebook already know about my cooking disaster! Though to be fair, since the Mac & Cheese was sublimely good, the mess got cleaned up, the sink repaired, it was a great success!
I've been working on the cleaning and organizing of my scrap room. Now that is a challenge! It is progressing though slowly.
The story for everyone else: The pasta pot was too heavy and it made my wonky left arm worse; so, when I picked up the little dish with the 2 tablespoons of flour for the roux with my left hand I dropped it because my hand was too weak. So, had to vacuum that mess. Then, probably for the same reason, knocked against the faucet with a pot and the faucet broke off sending water across the room. This required a big mop up and the need to go to the hardware store to buy a new one!
Bills are paid and fortunately personal and property taxes are better than expected this year. So, good!
My Mom is getting to re-locate to Victoria, BC. Wonderful news! I'm planning a trip up to help her move.
The main guest and family bathroom is nearing completion. Maybe next week? So exciting! It's looking good! Photos when it's done.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Moving on after the Hop, Thanks to all who participated!

 Had a lot of fun on the blog hop! Dawn and NanBeth won, Dawn got the first two prizes and Nanbeth all three! Congrats ladies. There's been a bit of a run on the Fiskars interchangeable border punches so we are waiting on more arriving and those will go out soon.
I'm taking classes at BPC and one class with May Flaum has us working on a canvas. I'm doing a water scene.
So far I'm at this point.
I'm not so great with the mermaid. I'm working on the drawing separately. When I've got her looking less like a distorted ribbon and more like a fish I'll paint her on sticky back canvas and then cut out and apply her to this base canvas.
I tore various scrapbook scraps that had teal in them and applied them to a canvas. I then applied a wash, then sealed, then Vaseline, paint again and then washed. Sealed once more then a pearlescent paint and glimmer mist. I'll need to seal again. 
I'm thinking of a texture medium for some fish and paint and ribbon perhaps for seaweed. I'm sure I'll use pearls and maybe rhinestones or gold colored metal for a bit of a diadem in her hair. Just playing and having fun!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Welcome to The Fiskateers Spring Blog Hop!



 Welcome. You should have arrived via Sue 6150 http://sueinct.blogspot.com/ .

If you are hopping into the middle of our blog hop and you are a Fiskateer, you can start here www.fiskateers.com .

 If you are thinking a “Fiskawhat?”, you should know that Fiskateers (http://www.fiskateers.com/) is an online community of craftiness (paper crafts, sewing, gardening, etc.) all based around our love and appreciation of Fiskars (think orange-handled scissors to start).  There is a blog, gallery, and message board led by four lovely Lead Fiskateers who along with the other Fiskateers are fabulous at getting creativity flowing via chats, challenges, on-line crops, and interviews with other crafty celebrities.  If you would like to join in the inspiration of  Fiskateers, or would like to learn more, you can join here  at http://www.fiskateers.com/join/ .  Then, join in the fun at the beginning, http://www.kellystarsallthingscrafty.blogspot.com/ for a complete list of blog hop stops.

We’ll be hopping all weekend , March 24th  and 25th  to welcome spring!  

The blog hop officially ends on Sunday March 25th at 11pm CST.
  
Some Fiskateers, including this blogger, are offering sur-prizes…check their directions carefully to participate.




Above, you will notice a layout I designed. The border is a piece of cardstock the same color as my base, added for extra dimension. Pigment ink was used to stamp a design around the border strip using the Fiskars acrylic block set. This was embossed with a clear embossing powder after stamping each design and before the ink dried. To trim the inner part out of the border paper I used my trusty Fiskars - 12 Inch Personal Paper Trimmer with Cut-Line - Blade Style I.  Love the precision! My patterned paper was cut again with my Fiskars - 12 inch Desktop Rotary Paper Trimmer - Blade Style F (I know, you probably own a lot of tools too. The Fiskars cutters are just too cool!) I used a border punch/corner punch combo, the Fiskars Comin' up Roses Border and Corner Punch to punch around the edge of the patterned paper before attaching it to my background.

Now, here's something to consider. I did not get my camera out the day of the dinner. I'm a bit self-conscious when my kids start calling me the Mama-razzi! So, what's a scrapper going to do? Well, the flowers from the table decor were still there; so, I snapped a photo the next day. I googled some food photos from the internet and next located a photo of my dear daughter-in-law taken a couple of weeks ago. I had printed the photo on my Fujifilm Pivi MP-300 mobile printer. That little printer is very handy for on-the-go need-it-now pics.

Tags, frames and assorted buttons and brads add color and dimension. A little hand done journaling and some alphabet stickers, for the title and remaining journaling, finish the page.

Prizes, I did mention prizes, didn't I? Well, I will pick two winners using a random number generator. The prize those individuals win will be determined by how many of the following steps the winner has completed.
1) If the winner has left a comment on this blog (only one comment, please) AND has signed up to follow my blog (sorry about this requirement, I agonized over it,; however, if you send me a private e-mail telling me you'd find it a bother to follow me - then I'll eliminate that requirement for you), the prize will be a Fiskars - Interchangeable Border Punch - Starter Set - Daisy Chain http://www2.fiskars.com/Products/Crafting/Punches/Interchangeable-Border-Punches.
2) If the winner has also left a comment on ALL the Fiskateer Blog Hop blog posts (OK, exception for Emily's since there are firewall issues), the prize will also include a $50 gift certificate to Big Picture Classes http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/ , one of my favorite scrapbook educational sites.
3) And, if the winning participant has also signed up to follow the blog of my favorite charity, Charity Wings http://charitywingsnews.blogspot.com/ (OR signed up to follow Charity Wings on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/charity.wings), the prize will also include a $50 gift certificate to Scrapbook.com http://www.scrapbook.com/.

Good Luck!

Thanks for hopping by…next stop is Stephenie 3 www.mycraftyadventures.com

Tools used




Thursday, March 22, 2012

Coming Soon - Blog Hop!



 It's just fun with a few friends over at Fiskateers.com. We are planning a blog hop over the weekend. Yes, there will be prizes! Check in here this weekend for all the fun! It's FUN week at Big Picture Classes so this fits in well. No formal link between Fiskateers and BPC - they just are places on the web I enjoy and are part of MY fun! Hope to see you here.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Even a little Digi

 I lost my digi scrapbook file a day or two after I made this LO. As soon as I recover the info I'll post the info on the kit. I'm not very good at the digi stuff yet. It takes me a loooong time to do. I like it though. The nice thing is being able to go back and improve items easily if I want to do so. Great places for digital scrap book classes include:
http://thedailydigi.com/
http://www.reneepearson.com
http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/
http://www.jessicasprague.com/
Of course, practice is important. I'm using Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 and find it is not too hard to make basic pages once you get the hang of layers and the various locations of commands.
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.html

Good Times!

 

I'm having fun scrapbooking. Knowing I'm participating in a blog hop makes me want to be sure to have content on my blog. A few techniques used here, paint on edges http://www.rangerink.com/products/prod_paint_adirondackdab.htm, altered embellishments, pen outline of title and I used a Martha Stewart border punch http://www.eksuccessbrands.com/marthastewartcrafts/Products/Doily_Lace_Edge_Punch_M284006.htm
I do like the chalk writer pens from Zig. http://www.joann.com/zig-memory-writer-chalk-pastel-dual-tip-markers-6pk/zprd_10889327a/ Thick tips but easy fun soft color. 
Most of the supplies are from my February Scarlet Lime kit http://www.scarletlime.com/. Yes, that is a MME Lush journal card in orange http://www.mymindseye.com/Lush/Lush.asp and a few Sassafras stickers, too http://www.sassafraslass.com/.  Also, used some twine. 
I tried for a contemporary style with lots of little embellishments and banners. Since one cannot take photos in the theater I did take a pic from the Beach Blanket Babylon site to depict some of the fun we had at the show. BBB is always hilariously funny.http://www.beachblanketbabylon.com/ 
Rod had been reading the local news so he got most all of the humor which is pretty global but does have some San Francisco references at times - it always changes though the show story-line is constant. The costumes are delightful!
Fiskars products used on this page


Friday, March 16, 2012

It's fun to be productive

 Well, thinking ahead to a blog hop does make one productive. A class I'm taking with May Flaum at BPC http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/ has made it fun and easy.

This photo follows one of May's templates and uses Claudine Hellmuth's new kits for most of the layout. The letters are Thickers from AC, the stitched ribbon is MM, the brads BG, the pen is from Scarlet Lime and the Stickles in Sequin from Ranger. The paper has been sprayed with English Ivy Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels with a Butterfly stencil from Maya Road.
Simple title, subtitle and journaling yet a very complete story. Very fun to do!
My fave Fiskars products



Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Cards?


 
Yes, I know, I've said I'm not much of a card maker. Here I am lately making more cards. I'm taking an on-line course The Curious Scrapbooker's Field Guide with May Flaum at http://www.bigpictureclasses.com/.
May always inspires me to try new things. Cards are also quick. Not as tired and sore making these as I am with other projects. I had fun with mists making some of these Spring cards.
Here are some details.


I used my Fiskars' punch to punch out the chick from cardstock and then scattered them on a background paper. Used several colors of Mr. Huey sprays as well as Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, changing the position of the die-cuts each time. For final layer I used the white Mr. Huey. Yum!
As you can see I did cards with stamps and ribbon and twine dug from my stash and some Stickles. I love that Easter egg punch from Fiskars!



Monday, March 12, 2012

I'm funny! Grandmas Inspire.

 Just participated in another one of Debbie Hodge's webinars for Masterful Scrapbook Design http://masterfulscrapbookdesign.com/. Don't get me wrong, just a member of the peanut gallery. I AM NOT AN EXPERT, LOL! But, my comments often make folk laugh. I decided I like that.
No, I'm not quick enough to be the next Joan Rivers. I do envy her very quick wit! Mine sort of simmers and then pops up. Still, it's fun to make folk laugh.
My Baba (word used by those of Ukrainian heritage for grandmother, since grandmas so often sported the kerchief called a Babushka on their heads) must be where I got a funny bone gene. She was hilarious. I always loved to visit because we would sometimes laugh so hard, we cried. She just was silly sometimes. Didn't see the point of wasted letters in English so pronounced "puh-neumonia" and "kuh-night". She made wry observations, too. I wish we had had inexpensive recording devices back then so we could still listen to her and smile or remember her words.
Me with Grandpa James and Baba Julia

My other grandmother was a character. I suspect some bipolar stuff may have been going on but she was colorful. I mean who else would paint their fence in stripes to resemble the Belgian flag? She had a pair of shoes she liked from the 1930's and had a cobbler make versions of those platformed shoes with the peek-a-boo toes that she wore most of her life. Her hair was always tied back with a shoestring in a low ponytail. Rumor has it she was banned at wrestling matches because of her shaking her cane at one. (Not sure why she had a cane sometimes, I do not remember her as lame). She was an avid fan and we were not to interrupt her TV watching of wrestling.
Me with Grandmere Frances and Granpere "Pete"

Just some rambles today. Have story telling on the brain. Now that I have this journaling, maybe some old photos will be the perfect thing to use with the story on a scrapbook page.
My parents, with my grandparents, on my parents wedding day.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

OK, it was fun!


 This double page layout (DPLO) took a long time. I cannot just keep at things or risk being sore and I need time to think out my steps. It was fun; but, I do have quite a mess to clean up - today's project, LOL!
I found these photos taken different times in the 1950's but all in our kitchen of the house on Eveline. I wrote a stream of consciousness essay about the pictures and then decided this would work for a scrapbook page using my new Claudine Hellmuth products from HSN http://www.hsn.com/search_c-ct_a-9170_xc.aspx

I started by choosing my background and accent papers from the scrap kit and the alignment of my photos. I also began going through the embellishments trying to find ones that enhanced my story and design.


I committed to my paper choices and sizes and began to arrange my pages still working on the embellishments. I had not yet picked my fonts so used my original journal draft for help in design and placement.

. I found a 1950's fabric on the web and used that as an inspiration for my design element on the left. I wanted to add pattern and movement. I found an orange plaid making tape in my stash and added it to the cardstock. I used part of a hero arts stamp to stamp onto a transparency since stamping over the tape would not have worked since the surface was irregular. I was happy the orange coordinated well. I was not so lucky with the Mark Richards glitter domes' shade of orange but Glimmer Glaze by Tattered Angels in Orange Crush "saved the day"! Just fastened that all on the left with staples. (Sorry, I could not resist my little reference to Rocky and Bullwinkle).I had chosen a font called Marketing Script Outline for my title and printed that and my subtitle (done in Marketing Script) onto glossy photo paper and then fussy cut. I added a American Crafts red felt heart to the oven door of the embellishment. Note that I rounded the outside corners of my paper strips and added a little pen work. I also made photo corners from the background sticker paper and added pen work to those. The photos external edges were deckle cut with my Fiskars rotary cutter and deckle blade to look like my originals and to give a little more vintage look to the page. A little lace echoed the lattice of the top line of patterned paper. Claudine's wood elements come attached to a red bordered "recipe card" and I used that bit of packaging as my journaling block for my sub-title.

On the right side I used a Fiskar's Border punch to repeat a lattice on the bottom of the journaling. More chipboard and dimensional die cuts emphasized the story and the color moves the eye around the page. I added some orange glitter domes here again to bring more of the color to the right.
The journaling is in Hot Rod. The font size needed to work on the page is a little difficult to read but not that hard in person. I thought about changing this out but finally decided to leave it. It reads:

When looking through some old photos today I saw these pictures of my Mom and Dad, my brother, Stephen, and me. All were taken in the kitchen of our then new house on Eveline Street about 1955-57. There was a lot of natural wood finish in the house – something my Dad loved; me, not so much. Mom is wearing those moccasin slippers that must have been comfy; but, again not a favorite of mine.
I see so many other details in these photos. Must ask Mom why those drawer fronts were slanted. Probably was in vogue at the time.  Those fake tiles on the wall I remember, though not sure of the color of that nor the floor, though grey and teal seems to faintly echo in my mind.
The dinette set was a grand prize my parents won at a Bingo game in Winnipeg Beach. Those games were a weekend entertainment for a time for my parents. I remember meals at the table, family poker games, and my parents playing cribbage there. It lasted a long time. I think the chairs outlived the table and were recovered at least once or twice. I remember they had red upholstery when I took them off to my apartment in Montreal, where I attended med school, in the back of my then boyfriend’s car.  That boyfriend, Jim, became my first husband. My parents teased me that the chairs were my dowry.
It looks like my Mom was frying something on our stove. The big tea kettle was always whistling about 4 in the afternoon. Dad’s shift ended at 3pm and my folks always had tea after he got home. Maybe that’s what we were doing when the seated at the table photo was taken. I see the milk carton and the cups, the salt and pepper were always out. Stephen and I each had half a banana and no plates so likely not a formal meal.
The bread box is almost washed out in the middle photo but I remember that. In the old days bread and milk got delivered. Not for long, Safeway did make it to our town and was down the street.
I think at that time most everyone had those standard issue black phones unless you were like my grandma in Lockport. She continued to have one of those handled wooden phone boxes on the wall for much of my childhood. My uncles often got yelled at for listening in on the party-line.
Yes, those are ash trays on the counter tops. My father smoked and my brother, too. They died from the consequences of smoking, both at age 58, so sad.
I see a bouquet of flowers on the living room side of the divider unit. I wonder if that’s why I have bouquets of flowers in my home so often.  I love how the curtains were hung too high or hemmed too short at the windows. Wonder why that was. The open left side of the divider cabinet is where I think we kept the phone book and the dictionary. My Mom did the Jumble puzzle at the table, too, as I recall and had the dictionary handy. The open sliding door on the right shows my Mom’s salt and pepper shaker collection. I remember those Scottie dogs. I think flower vases were on the bottom shelf.
Other memories are rushing in. Books were in the divider cabinet shelves on the living room side. I can see the door to the bathroom down the hall from my Mom at the stove. My Mom permed my hair there. I recall her saying “That girl sure loves to read. She even reads all the details on the shampoo bottles when I’m doing her hair.” Oh, I did love to read. I must write the story of my library experiences on another layout page.
Hope you enjoy my memories and my process!
Products used:















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