Inspiration Everwhere - Art Journal {Dedication}

Loved Jessica Sprague 's Inspiration Everywhere class so much that though I wasn't able to keep pace during the two weeks of class last month, I am still happily working on the class assignments and today I'm sharing the Dedication Page.

Jessica prepared a fun pdf to use for this page, but my mojo was sparked with the combo of her class & Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas and I had to continue diving in, hands on & enjoy the full tactile experience of creating (just as I did for the art journal's cover).

When I saw the pocket Jessica used on her Dedication Page to insert her journaling, I immediately knew what I would use.  I have a pile o' old Levi's & other jeans (all sizes, from the kidlets on up to ours) & went running to see what size tush back pocket would work on my page.

I also grabbed this uber cute paper that I've been hoarding for wee girl's scrapbook album (I still have a sheet & a half left, so I didn't de-hoard it all ;>).  Isn't it darling?

A bit more patterned paper for the journaling, some acrylic paint, rub-ons, and ink to complete the page.  Oh yeah, did I mention the smiles, fun & even a few giggles (courtesy of wee girl working on her own collage beside me)?  Because there were!

The journaling for my Dedication Page reads:

Explore.

Seek.

Search.
Find.

Inspiration.

It is everywhere.

Outside. Inside.

Above. Below.

Friends. Family.

In Print. Online.

Color. Shape.

Texture. Line.

Words. Spoken.

Written. Sights.

Sounds. Smells.

Emotions. Sensations.

Inspiration.

It.

Is.

Everywhere.

Where do you find your inspiration?

Supplies:

Paper:  Foofala;  K&Company

Ink:  Tattered Rose - Tim Holtz Distress Inks for Ranger

Paint:  Acrylic Paint - Making Memories

Rub-Ons:  Making Memories;  My Mind's Eye

Other:  Fabri-Tac;  Levi's jeans

Linking up:
Tattertots and Jello:  Weekend Wrap Up Party

{Sew} Small, {Sew} Strong

Do you remember the first fabby bag my best friend, Jenn, who works her magic with fabric & thread gave me?  I still use it for shopping, crafty playtime with friends, and even as an overnight bag when I turn in my Grown Up Card for a night.

Wee girl, my Princess, who loves all things creative & crafty (not to mention, anything that even resembles a purse!) mentioned that she would love a bag like Mama's to put her goldfish in when we head out for errands. 

And Auntie Jenn totally came through!  Princess' bags are significantly smaller, measuring (approx.) 9"x9"x4"...the perfect size for her to carry on her arm or shoulder.  And they are just as sturdy as Mama's bag, a la Jenn, with the straps wrapping all the way under the bags.

These bags aren't just for shopping!  Every week when Princess heads out to Grammie's for dance class, she packs her leotard & tights in there.  She's so proud to have her own bags, for her own 'stuff'.

I tried a few times, different locations, different lighting, but it was a challenge to pick up the subtly colored patterns...pale pink & white.  The first bag is a floral pattern, which shows up pretty well.  But, the second one is stars and moons, which I'm sorry that I was not able to capture the best.  (All pictures are clickable to enlarge.)

I must admit, I do love Saturdays!  Its my morning to sleep in....a pattern left over from the days of kidlets being babes and waking all hours of the night (a pattern that I have no intention of breaking anytime soon!).  I feel like Saturday mornings recharge me.  Its not just the bit of extra sleep, its waking to quiet, to no hungry tummies, no school lunch waiting to be made, no clock ticking, urging us out the door.  Its like a deep, fresh breath.

What recharges you?

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

{Sew} Surprised!

Last week, when I relinquished my Grown Up Card and visited my sweet friend Jenn, she loaned me a quilted bag that she'd sewn to carry home the first three Harry Potter books that she was loaning my son to read.  She loaned it to me.

Fast forward to this last Saturday when three fabby friends who are also Aunties & Uncle to my kidlets came up for a BBQ....Jenn being one of those Aunties.

We had a great time!  Hubby Q'd up some ribs (after they slow roasted in the oven) using our favorite organic GF/CF no sugar added BBQ sauce, I made a delish GF/CF macaroni salad* that I found thanks to a gluten free blogger on Twitter (that little birdie of a site is growing on me!), Jenn made a yummy green salad (with romaine lettuce, cucumber, tomato, beets, avocado, green onion, and olives), and Monique & Matt brought some garlic bread and a special margarita recipe for the adults. 

We finished off the night with the exhausted kidlets finally in bed, the men, boys, goodness!, men chuckling like they were years younger (that's a nice way to say it, right?! :>) at some YouTube videos and us girls, okay women (somehow that always sounds weird to me when I'm with my friends from my teen years....probably because we've been known to regress when we're together! :>) chatting it up in the living room and checking out Monique's recent scrapbook (she's the one who started me scrapping all those years ago!).

When we were walking our three friends out to their car, apparently, Jenn turned to my Hubby and said, "Shhhhhh!!!!", pointing to her fabby quilted bag that she loaned me last week.  Seriously......loaned it!!

Look at that sweet little pocket on the front!!

Here it is!!  Isn't it cute?!  I think so.

Just as cute from the back.

Oh my goodness!!  That turquoise stitching tickles...such a happy detail!

It gets better.  On the inside there are pockets.  And polkas.

On one side its a full pocket.  And on the other side, she split it vertically.  Not only did she split the whole pocket vertically for divided storage, but she also sewed a higher bottom on one side that is just perfect to slip a cell phone into....now, how genius is that?! :>

And then, THEN, I try to give her this sweetly sewn bag she's made and loaned me to take back home with her.  She just smiles, gives me a hug and says, "You're welcome."

"What?!"  And thinking, no way, I try to give it back to her again.  She's not having any of it.  Jenn tells me that she's been looking for a good home for it.  Apparently, she thinks its happy here in my home.  I know I'm happy to see it smiling at me.  But, I'm even happier to know that it was stitched and sewn by my friend.

Am I a lucky gal, or what?!

What has made you feel lucky lately?

---------------------------------

*  Only adjustments made to make the gluten free recipe casein free as well were to use salami that is not only gluten free, but casein, nitrites, msg, antibiotic, and preservative free (Applegate Farms) and to omit the optional Parmesan cheese.  We also used fresh minced garlic & shallots instead of dried for the dressing.  The whole thing is delish and since we doubled the recipe, we're still enjoying it!

We interupt the regularly scheduled program.....for {Teacher Gifts}!

We made it!! YAAAAYYYY!!!! My boy's last day of school was yesterday and it was SO nice to not only complete the school year, but also to turn OFF my 5:40 AM alarm clock!!!! I cannot express how happy that makes me! :>

Yes, I know I promised to return with {Part Two}of the doll house with pictures of its completion and I'm sorry I haven't gotten that up yet. I was trapped in the kaleidoscope of the zany & zippy, Crazyland that is the last week of school! So, please pardon the interruption to the regularly scheduled program as I have some teachers, aides, and principal gifts to share! :>

We had two teachers, two aides, and one principal that we brought end of the year thanks and goodies too.  While these were the people who we wrote, created and packaged bits for, we do know that it takes many more people to make a successful school year for our children and we are grateful to all that contributed!!

Initially, we were thinking Gerber Daisies, as I had the tag's wording in mind.  But, when I went looking, I found these fabulous and fun plants!  They are Celosias and the flower is spiky, feathery, vibrant, and look like little colorful Christmas trees, up close.  They could not be more perfect!  You can read more about Celosias here and here.  I have uploaded two close-up shots of the flowers themselves on Flickr here and here.

I had fun playing around with my fonts when coming up with these simple, but very appropriate tags for each plant.  I made them in MS Word, matted them on brightly colored cardstock, used different colored eyelets, and layered on another bright color with a spiral paper clip.  (Click on the pics to enlarge them and make them easier to read!)

The Celosias were four inch plants in the standard green plastic pot....perfect for planting, not so great for gift giving.  So, wee girl and I made a quick trip to Jo-Ann's and bought some dark green burlap.  We cut it into squares and Princess helped hold the burlap folded up around the pot, while I tied on some twine from the hardware store that I had.  Tie on the tag and they are a sweet little gift!

Teachers definitely put in so much time and effort and these two teachers, in particular, we all appreciate so much.  We wanted to give them a little something extra to show that.  So, I wrapped up four cards (1, 2, 3, 4) and envelopes and tied them up in wide pink grosgrain ribbon for simple, yet sweet gift giving. 

As we were giving out our end of the year gifts, a teacher surprised me with an extremely thoughtful gift.  She took pictures of our son through his school day, with his friends, classmates, different aides & teachers, in the classroom, at lunch, and recess.  She said that she knew that I scrapbook and wanted to give me pictures to scrap.  How thoughtful is that?!?!?!!

We have worked with this teacher closely for the last two years and I do not have words to express how wonderful she has been.  I am sure that when any of us look back, twenty years from now, we will remember her very well and still be grateful for her.

This small set (1, 2, 3, 4) of cards were wrapped up in a beautiful bright green wide sheer ribbon and tied off in a bow.  These were going to his classroom teacher who is full of smiles, enthusiasm, and a passion for teaching!  Our boy says that she was funny, great at teaching math, super nice, and that he enjoyed listening to her read stories to the class.  We so enjoyed her being our son's teacher this year and she will be missed!

One aide in particular, had a special connection with our son.  He enjoyed her so much, thought she was funny, and absolutely idolized her thirteen year old son....so much so, that her son was kind enough to come spend time after and before school a couple times a week with my boy this spring to talk about Star Wars, guitars, and Lego's.  How cool is that?! 

Princess and this aide shared something in common......they both enjoy their accessories!  In the last weeks of school, Princess often noticed my boy's very stylish aide wearing statement rings.  So, when we were thinking about end of the year gifts, Princess was the one to come up with the idea of giving this aide a statement ring.......and so we did!  I don't think the picture does it justice.  Its really fun and funky!

They have worked together for the last two years and in that time they talked, laughed, learned and taught, ran together (she runs half marathons....good thing 'cause my kidlet is fast and doesn't stop moving!! :>), played, and shared stories every day at school.  We will miss her next year!

Sending a BIG shout out to ALL the teachers out there (including the ones in my family!).......THANK YOU!

Thanks for visiting, I love it when you do! Hope you are having a fantastic weekend!!

Lisa's Poppy Seed Challenge & Fabric Fun for EBTKS

Wow! As busy as this week is, I'm so happy to have crafted a bit of time for some paper, ink, stamps, bling, and fabric!

I had fabric in mind to play along with the Everything but the Kitchen Sink challenge. Actually, I thought I was going to use some of the fabric that I bought recently, but instead found myself digging through my old stash and even using a wee piece of the pink gingham that was in my daughter's nursery!







And I was so excited to see Lisa Johnson diving in and starting her own challenge, that I knew I wanted to include her three Poppy Seeds in my card!







I made my fabric circles essentially the same way I created them HERE (for a scalloped paper flower) and HERE (with an Easter egg dye paper towel)......only with fabric. Once they were layered, I pinched the fabric in the middle, threw in a couple of stitches, and then sewed a button on top with embroidery floss. I really love how it came out and will have to make one again!

This little sweet sentiment is from my stash from about fifteen years ago and its one of my favorites. Isn't that exactly what a card is meant to do, no matter what the occasion is??!

A couple of last details to share......I stamped that little flower stamp all over the lemon tart card base in Versamark for a subtle pattern (you can click on the photo to enlarge it) and then stamped it again, in teal, on either side of the sentiment. A couple pink crystals and my happy little card is complete.

I'm off to enjoy some of today's happy moments......my daughter is going to her second dance class with her Grammie and I'll be heading back to my son's school to watch him perform Tiki Tiki Tembo, which they have been working on this trimester in Drama class. He tells me he's the Old Man in it and has to walk very slowly. :> Should be fun!

What's making you smile today?



(I'll be back with a supply list this evening!)

I'm back and here's my supply list:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Lemon Tart - Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Flower - Stampin' Up!; Sentiment - Love You To Bits
Ink: Versamark; Taken with Teal - Stampin' Up!
Fabric: Stash
Button: Stash (I think its Autumn Leaves)
Thread: Coats & Clark
Embroidery Floss: Bazzill
Bling: Lisa Bearnson

Look what followed me home!

This lovely, beautiful piece of crafty joy has been on my wishlist for awhile now. And when Hubby suggested that I go pick something out for myself for my birthday, I knew exactly what would be coming home with me! Now, I just need to some pretty little bits to run through her!

So, I bought her for what she can DO, right?! But, once I took her out of her packaging, I started looking at her and saw the two little bits o' bling on her front.....I got excited. And then when I noticed the larger piece on her handle, I had to share.....but, I didn't neccessarily share my joy with the right person.... Hubby was in the room with me, the kidlets were already in bed (I should have waited until I could show my wee daughter, who gets uber excited at all things pink and sparkly!), and so I bubbled on about how cool my lovely new tool is and look!, there's bling on her!! His response? To smack himself on the forehead and reply, "TOOLS are Not Supposed to have bling on them!!!" I just laughed and continued on with my own personal Happy Dance! :>

But, wait! There's more! In my birthday trip to the Walt Disney Family Museum post, I mentioned that my friend Jenn is creatively talented too (she sews, quilts, & does needle work) and that she sent me home with one of her creations.

I'd been eyeing one of her utility/shopping bags for awhile now. I have about a dozen (mostly from Trader Joe's) already. But, none are as fabulously chic, practical, and as super strong as hers are. I paid her (another) compliment on it and next thing I knew, she had taken it off the hook with her other (also fabulously chic) bags and handed it to me! She's creatively talented and plenty generous...thank you, Jenn!


The uber cool fabric she got at SCRAP, in San Francisco. I cannot wait to go with her sometime soon! What is also really cool is that the straps she's sewn onto the bag, go all the way around the bag, from the top, stitched down the sides, under the bottom of the bag, and back up again, making it extremely sturdy and able to hold a lot. And because the straps are long enough, its really easy to carry, even when loaded because it can just be slung onto your shoulder (instead of pinching your fingers to a bright pink, like many of my reusable grocery bags do).


I broke this gorgeous bag in with a trip to JoAnns with Jenn. And since I was with my great friend who sews, my bag was filled with my purchases, which were all fabric and a few patterns. I have a wonderful sewing machine, but other than some very square items with nothing more that a straight stitch involved, I haven't used it a lot. I really want to correct that and learn to sew.............MUCH better and more than I do now. But, in the meantime, the fabrics I picked up all have papercraft projects calling out to me! Maybe I'll have to use one of them for the current Everything But The Kitchen Sink challenge, calling for.....fabric! :>

Today is the last day to enter my Birthday Blog Giveaway for a Papertrey Ink gift certificate! Just as a reminder, here are the deets:

"Since the whole month of February is a celebratory month for me, I am leaving the giveaway open for the whole month for you. Every comment made on my posts in February, starting with this one, will give you an entry in the drawing for the PTI $25 gift certificate. If you like my blog, I would love for you to follow me, but it is not a requirement. And if you blog about the giveaway, you will get an additional three entries (either leave me the link in your comment or you can email me). "

I hope you all are having a fantastic weekend! The sun is back out here and Hubby is going to BBQ tonight! One kidlet is in 'imagination land' doing a Space Police mission' (aka playing with Legos) and the other is wearing her apron & chef's hat and whipping up a delish (pretend) pineapple, onion, peach, and cauliflower soup. What's shaped up this weekend for you?