Mixed Media project

My husband and I were lucky to sneak away to our condo in VT for Columbus Day weekend.  The weather was amazing - near 80 degrees and sunny every day!  When we spend a weekend up there, I generally have a lot of down time, which I enjoy immensely.  I read book and magazines, nap, take walks, head to the fitness center for a swim or a hot tub, and cook a lot.  I would love to spend the time scrapbooking, but I could never be organized enough to figure out what I need to bring with me. I have, however, been able to work on mixed media projects.

I am a complete newbie when it comes to mixed media.  All of my inspiration comes from Kelly Rae Roberts.  I bought her book, Taking Flight, and there are a lot of interesting techniques in there.  

For this project, I first covered a 12x12 canvas with layers of old dictionary paper, using multi-medium to glue it on.  All of the patterned paper is from Crate Paper's Pink Plum collection.  I cut out the shape of the skirt on one of the pieces of patterned paper and then layered the other pieces on top of it.  The legs are just Making Memories paint (the color is cantaloupe.)  The flowers on the blouse were cut out from a border sticker in the Pink Plum Collection and the "Life is Pretty Wonderful" title is a rub-on.  I use a Stabilo pencil to outline it and add any detail, such as the belt.

The orange dots were made with a combination of Studio Calico's Mr. Huey in orchard and multi medium.  I "stamped" it with bubble wrap.  Initially I tried to stamp Mr. Huey directly onto the dictionary background, but because it was covered in a layer of multi medium, it didn't dry (at all, it really just pooled.)  I posed the question of the Studio Calico message board and Davinie from the SC design team suggested mixing the multi medium with the spray mist first and then stamping it.  Since the multi medium dries clear, just the color shows up.  It worked perfectly!

Thank you Davinie for the tip!  

Have a great weekend everyone!

Brenda

He Plays Guitar

My husband loves to play guitar and he usually does 3-4 nights a week.  He usually plays with a friend or two, so it gets a little loud at our house some nights!  I really enjoy listening to them though.  They play a lot of Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, and Pearl Jam.  I usually hide away in my scrap room on these nights, so it's all good.

A couple of weeks ago, he came home on a Friday night, started a fire and played all night outside.  He so enjoyed himself!  I love the way this photo turned out with just the fire as the lighting.

I used the September 2011 Studio Calico kit for the layout.  I really had a hard time cutting into some of those papers - I liked them so much!

Enjoy your weekend everyone!  

Brenda

Happy World Cardmaking Day!

I don't know if I will be making any cards today to participate in World Cardmaking Day, but I thought I'd share a Halloween card that I made a little while ago.  

 I opened a box of goodies from Northridge Publishing this summer for being published in Scrapbook Trends magazine.  When I saw the mini Maya Road chipboard trees and I immediately envisioned one on a Halloween card or layout, covered in Tim Holtz crackle paint.  This is the card I ended up making.

The patterned paper is from Memory Box.  The "BOO!" and the bat were both cut from my Slice.  I used black Coredinations paper with an orange core and sanded just a bit of the black away.  I inked the edges of the card and I also inked the entire tree in black before applying the crackle paint so that the black would show through the cracks when it dried.

Happy World Cardmaking Day, everyone!

Brenda

Saturday Night Pomegranate Martini

My husband and I usually spend our Saturday nights cooking a great meal together.  We might make homemade ravioli stuffed with gorgonzola with a brown butter walnut sauce or we might make it a Spanish tapas night.  We might grill lobsters or crab legs and eat outside.  Sometimes we make Thai.  We recently had an all habanero night with our habanero crop from the garden.  No matter what we make to eat, we always start out the night with a pomegranate martini.  I love them!

I used the September 2011 Studio Calico kit Glee Club and added some BasicGrey letter stickers because they were the perfect color for the word "pomegranate."  I misted with Studio Calico's Mr. Huey piglet.  I don't mist too often and I love what it added to my page.

Just in case you can't read the recipe:

2 oz. vodka

2 oz. 100% pure pomegranate juice

1/4 oz. grand mariner

Shake over ice, strain, and enjoy!

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Christmas in September!

I know, it is only September, but I was soooooooooo inspired by this video by Jennifer McGuire that I drove to my LSS, bought some metallic green ZING!, and came home to make Christmas cards.  What inspired me about the video was using the banner stamps from Studio Calico as Christmas trees.  How clever!  (I also was inspired to put some Mr. Huey Shine in my shopping cart!)

I used the same sketch for my cards as I did in this post last week.

This sketch offers so much variety - I loved using it for pinwheels one week and Christmas trees the next.  I made a set of four cards.

Here's a close up of the stamping:

The background paper that I used is from a company called Memory Box.  You don't hear of it that much, but my LSS carries it and it is beautiful paper.  I had a 6X6 collection pack of their Christmas line from a few years ago.  The various greeting are from Making Memories - I received a package of them when my Slice was broken - they send you some supplies to make you happy.  I used some Cosmo Cricket and some Jenni Bowlin stickers for the borders.

Anyone else starting their Christmas cards early?

Have a great Saturday everyone!

Card Inspiration

I'm relatively new to making cards and I find that I need a little inspiration in order to create them.  I found this "Style Challenge" from Cards Magazine for their March 2012 call:
Style Challenge - Colors: lime green, lemon yellow, melon pink / Element: honeybees & honeycombs

Interesting combination, I thought - I have a bee stamp from Studio Calico - I can do this!  I really struggled with the color combination though.  They just didn't seem to work.  Three days later (yes, three days!), I came up with this card.

It came out pretty cute!  I used bits and pieces from a lot of different Studio Calico kits.  I love making those rolled flowers.  I think they add a lot to a card or a layout.

I decided to try another challenge - this time a "Sketch Challenge" for their April 2012 call.  Here's the sketch:

Here is my card:

I used the August 2011 add-on kit from Studio Calico "Sandcastle."  I loved the sweet colors from this add-on.  The buttons and string were from my stash.

Thanks so much for looking!  Have a great Saturday everyone!

Brenda

Favorite Farmer's Market Recipes

When Craig and spend a weekend in Vermont, we usually head to the farmer's market in nearby Rutland on Saturday morning.  It is the largest farmer's market in Vermont with almost 100 different stands.  I love it there!  We were there one weekend in August and I took a photo of some baby squash in an egg carton that I thought was adorable!

We usually go to farmer's markets at least once a week during the summer and fall have have lots of different recipes that we like to make with the produce.  When I saw the American Crafts chalk labels that came in the August Studio Calico kit, Boardwalk, I thought it would be a fun idea to post some of my favorite recipes on them for a layout.  All of the supplies are from Glee Club except for the green American Crafts thickers were from a previous kit.  I used my Slice for the cob of corn and for the picket fence around the word recipes.

Hurricane Irene hit Vermont pretty hard last weekend.  We are not able to go to our condo until further notice because the only road that leads to it was washed away.  I have no idea if that means days, weeks, or months.  I really hope that the roads are repaired soon.  Leaf peeping is right around the corner and the tourism that it brings to the state is very important to the economy.  Vermont in the fall is amazing if you have never been there!

Have a great Saturday everyone!