Crafted Minutes Create {Altered Journal}

Five minutes here and there for some creative, inky fun are not exactly conducive to finishing fast, but the process is still full o' fun and smile worthy playtime!

I started with a composition book and shirt that my daughter has outgrown, then pulled supplies from there.  Three patterned papers, Tim Holtz stamps, and I broke out an unopened pack of Tim's masks.

Tim's sentiment stamps are so fabulous (I just LOVE them!) that I couldn't use only one.  So, I collage stamped all of the stamps in his Just Thoughts set on the mini polka patterned paper.

If you've read my blog for awhile, you might have noticed that I really enjoy a clean look, love my cardstock, don't use a lot of patterned paper (though I collect it! lol), and rarely ever collage (I think I've only collaged something once on here).  But, I am happy with how this came out! :>

I definitely gave myself my stamper's manicure for this project, as I inked the edges of my background paper, painted & inked (with white acrylic paint, white pigment ink, pink dye ink) the binding, used multiple, alternating layers of white acrylic paint & pink dye ink over the Tim Holtz "K" mask, and once the mask was removed, the open area was filled with multiple layers of dimensional adhesive.  Add in Fabri-Tac, Modge Podge, white glue, and I had sticky, inky, painty hands.  But, I like that.  It means I found time to play!

I cut out a couple of the hearts on my Princess' old shirt, as well as a rectangle, which I used the reverse side of.  Some clouds were detail cut from patterned paper and hand cut scallops from the large glittered polka paper made for a couple of borders. 

One last detail that isn't showing on camera, but does in real life is the extra sparkle added to the journal's front.  Using a clear Spica glitter pen, I traced clouds, the polkas on two clouds, and certain words in the collage stamping that I wanted to emphasize.  Sorry I couldn't get the camera to pick it up, but it does balance out the sparkle on the large polkas.

There is a ton of that shirt left, so I will save it for when I eventually get to scrapping some pages during the shirt's time in my wee girl's life.  I also have the cutest pair of jeans, with sweetly colored & shaped buttons, lining the front pockets, that I'm holding on to for a scrapbook page or two of her.

Do you do that?  Do you save a favorite piece of clothing (kidlets' or your own) for a creative project?

I'm playing along with some creative peeps today!  Come visit some of the linkups...I'll bet you'll be inspired.  I'm off to see some inspiration too!! :>

                

Supplies:

Paper:  Sky's the Limit - Follow the Cloud - My Little Shoebox;  Baby Girl Dots (mini polkas) - My Mind's Eye;  AnimalCrackers 12x12 Ella Glittered Dot - Making Memories

Paint - White - Delta Ceramcoat & Adirondack Paint Dabber

Ink - Positively Pink Classic (Dye), White Craft (pigment) - Stampin' Up!

Masks - "K" from Alpha set - Tim Holtz, idea-ology

Stamps - Just Thoughts - Tim Holtz for Stamper's Anonymous

Adhesive - Fabri-Tac, Modge Podge, Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive

Ribbon - Pink Ruffled Grosgrain - Stampin' Up!

Other - Composition Book - Target (wait for clearance after Back to School...30cents!); Fabric/Shirt - Old Navy

Creative Log Jam

Tsk, tsk on me. Wag your finger at me, shake your head, cast that look of disappointment my way....go ahead......I can take it......I hope! My own head is shaking and I've rolled eyes at myself so many times that I thought I was on Disney's Tea Cup ride. I have several projects started, many more crashing around in my head, and yet they are not done. I seem to be in a creative log jam of sorts. Finally, I have just told myself that I need to come back and chat with you (are you still here??) and hopefully, I can clear some of those logs out (maybe use some of them to light a fire....or at least some sparks!).

While I have not been nurturing my own creativity directly, I have been indirectly while sitting with my kidlets encouraging their creative spirits. Not having anything ready to share of my own today, I thought I might share some of my youngest's craftiness!

Little hands held their very first glue stick to create this! My Princess loves using my old decorative scissors, cutting away at every drawing and colored page, always leaving behind colorful confetti that has fallen at her cute little toes. She picked some different colored cardstock, cut the shapes out herself (I showed her how to turn the paper as she cut.......her eyes opened wide as a whole new world of crafty cutting shared its secrets), and we sat down together to decide what shapes worked best for what. The only thing I cut was the straight edge of the bottom of the grass. That was also the only thing I glued down as I demonstrated how to use the glue stick. What tickled was watching the wheels in her head turn as she continued to make new discoveries...with the tip of her little tongue stuck out the whole time. I personally cannot stand glue sticks as I don't like the glue on my hands (Elmer's glue, yes...paints and ink, yes....glue sticks, not so much). My son uses Duck adhesive for the same reason. But, oh my, my daughter, my Princess, luuuuuvvvvsssss her glue stick!

You may have to look closely to see these.....lean in (or click the pic). Do you see Disney's Aristocats? Both of my kidlets love to have coloring pages printed out. There are so many free online resources that it is easy to provide a vast variety of different characters and scenes for them to color, cut, and entertain themselves with. Asking me for a 'printout' is pretty much a daily request.

Earlier this month, my Princess (my knickname for her....she tells me that she is my Angel Froggy Princess, but that can get a little long :>) colored an Aristocats printout and then asked me to cut them out for her. She spent the rest of the day playing with them with as much gusto as she would a three dimensional stuffed animal. And just before she had to go to bed, she carefully layed them out on the floor, gingerly placed one of her brothers blankets on top of them, leaving their heads out (they had to breathe, you know), sang them "Part of Your World" in her very best Arial voice and then said, "Night-night!".

The colored kitties were then forgotten for a bit....until glue stick day. After she pieced together her sunny day piece, I told her to go for it, use as much glue as she wanted and make a collage out of all the scraps that remained. And of course, she did! Out of the corner of her eye she spied Berlioz and ran to him, greeting her abandoned friend. Absolutely pleased as a pickle in a vinegar bath with some minced garlic to play with, she promptly searched out the rest of her two dimensional kitties. And each one found a home on her collage. The smile on her face when she was done is one that I am going to treasure for years to come.

Its feels really good to 'chat' with you again. I hope you're still out there and I hope to not disappear again! So I'm off to take another log off of this creative log jam, put it on the fire and see what I might be able to play with tonight. Hope you are in the middle of a wonderful weekend!

KWerner Color Inspiration #55...my 1st time playing along!

Amazingly, I have never played along with one of Kristina's color challenges before. But, that ended today. I have a couple of new books by my bedside and I am so tired of pulling the nearest thing to mark my page....a paper clip, a barrette, and my old standby, a kleenex! So, a bookmark seemed to be calling my name.

With Kristina's colors in mind, I riffled through my stamps and pulled out quite an assortment that have most definitely not received the love they deserve. First, I cut a piece of More Mustard down to size. Next, I stamped an antique map of Africa. Then, I stamped the sentiment and the Tim Holtz clock with Versamark and embossed with russet embossing powder. I stamped some vines randomly all over the cardstock (these were not embossed) for a tone on tone effect.

Not wanting to add any cream cardstock to the bookmark, I went through my options to include the color. Cream ink? Nope, don't have it. Cream rub-ons? Nope, none in a shape that would work for me. Hmmmmmmm.......what else do I have?? Then it came to me!! Prismacolor colored pencils!!! PC914, Cream, at my service! I know this seems so simple, but its a major light bulb tip moment for me!!! With my pencils, I pretty much have any color that could be used in a color challenge, even if I do not have it in ink, cardstock, or ribbon! I used the cream colored pencil to color the edges, as you would ink the edges with an ink pad. This light bulb moment just tickled me oh so pink....er, um, cream colored?!

I finished the bookmark off with a Making Memories pebble clip at the top and matted the stamped More Mustard carstock on to a piece of Really Rust cardstock. One thing I want to note, I know that the embossing powder looks a bit different in color to the cardstock, but they really are the same color in real life.

I typically do not collage stamp. Yet, I had so much fun here and really like how it came out.....not to mention, all of the unused stamps and supplies that are feelin' the love with this simple little creation! :>

Supplies:
Cardstock: More Mustard, Really Rust - Stampin' Up!
Ink: Versamark - Tsukineko; Weathered Wood Distress Ink - Ranger
Stamps: Antique Maps - Sunday International; Decorative Flair (vine) - Stamped In Ink; Sentiment, Special Occasions - Marcella by K&Company; Clock, Life's Possibilities - Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous
Embossing Powder: Russet - The Herbarium
Embellishment: Travel Pebble Clips
Other: Prismacolor Colored Pencil