Colorado Road Trip 2014 Mini Album....the supplies

My family + 3 other families are headed to Colorado soon for a fun Summer vacation. I've got the making of a mini album in progress so I thought I'd share my supplies that I have set aside for this project. 

The Gossamer Blue July kits were packed full of products that were simply perfect for the look I was going for.  Our vacation will include lots of ATV trails, road side stops by flowing creeks, white water rafting, picnics and nature hikes.  I wanted lots of florals, nature and fun prints + some road trip embellishments.  Here's what I selected....

First up was this beautiful assortment of patterned papers.  These come from all the various kits + the 6 x 6 Open Road Crate Paper pad from the July Bits & Pieces Kit. 

 The sticker embellishments were right on track for my mini album.  The chipboard alpha and October Afternoon label sheet is from the July Main Kit.  The Open Road stickers from Crate Paper are in the July Main Add-On Kit.  The Studio Calico phrase sticker sheet is from the July Bits & Pieces Kit and the Pink Paislee Switchboard alpha is from the July Life Pages Add-On 3 Kit.

 I dug through my stash of Gossamer Blue stamps, choosing sets that had travel and foodie images.

 I have lots of little tins packed full of travel, floral and label images.  These are tucked into the various July Gossamer Blue Kits.

 For my mini album, the Studio Calico Handbooks are becoming a favorite.  I'll be using the Chocolate Handbook this time along with different size page protectors. A fun discovery is that the We R Memory Keepers 2 x 2 Photo Sleeves and the 4 x 4 Photo Sleeves fit the rings of the Hand Books. I'll also be trimming some other Project Life page protectors down I'm sure.  I love mini albums to have lots of different size page protectors and things like pockets, etc.

 I really love the Crate Paper Open Road Journaling Cards that are included in the July Gossamer Blue Life Pages Main Add-On Kit.  I'll pair them with other GB journaling cards and ones that I create on my own for some fun title cards.  You can see a peek of some title cards I created in advance.  I love the feel of this album....lots of muted nature colors, some quirky alphabets like what you might see on old hotel signs with the big arrows pointing to the hotels and snippets of road trip and nature themed embellishments.

 Totally fun and I can't wait to add in my vacation photos & journaling.

 I packed up a few vintage storage items with my kit supplies.

 When I return from our road trip I'll have everything waiting for me.  If I have enough space I'm hoping that I can fit our 2013 Colorado trip photos into this album too and just divide the two events with index labels or title pages.

I'll be updating the blog with progress photos of my mini album so stay tuned.  Be sure to shop the Gossamer Blue kits this month if you like the feel of this album.  I'm so pleased with the selections in this month's kits. So, so perfect for my album theme.  Are you headed out for vacation soon?  I'd love to hear your plans for documenting your Summer trips.  

Creating a color kit from inspiration photo...

Hello friends.  I want to thank you all for your kind messages to me about the girls.  They are doing great and are enjoying the start of Spring Break today.  The girls are healing physically although we found out that Josey tore some tendons in her shoulder.  They both are quite impressed with their own doctoring skills...Josey removed her stitches by herself and Jordan dug a piece of glass out of her head yesterday.  Me...I'm a little scatter brained lately.  My attention span is pretty short and I can cry at the drop of a hat.  Time will help us all though and getting back to "normal" is our goal. 

In the crafty world, I did take some time to treat myself to a fun class over at Studio Calico called Color Studio.  Lisa Truesdell is doing a fabulous job of teaching the class and I'm finding the refresher/reminders about the color wheel to be very inspiring.  One of the first class assignments was to find an inspiration photo full of color.  I chose this photo from my March Pinterest Inspiration Board: Going Green. Happy St. Patrick's Day, by the way!

Pinterest Source

Another class assignment was to create a color kit inspired by our chosen inspiration photo.  This was right up my alley as you all know I love to assemble little kits.  A goal of mine is to revisit some of my older supplies so I made sure to do some rifling through my older stash of items.  I started with some wonderful patterned papers that reflected the patterns in the pillows.  I love the cottage-like colors and patterns. 

Next I went to work on fitting some crafty items into a vintage green utensil drawer.  I thought the green was so fitting for my Going Green Pinterest board theme.  When assembling little kits like this to work with I like to limit myself to a particular sized container.  Otherwise I could pile my whole craft room into a kit. 

I chose little bits & pieces from some Gossamer Blue kits....my vintage green typewriter Instagrams...and some die cuts from leftover kits.

Next I chose some spools of thread...Washi tapes....dimensional flowers....and jars of buttons.

I had some ideas for painting some clothespins so I grabbed some of those along with some acrylic paints.  I spy two of my new watercolor brushes tucked in there too.  I'll be sharing my favorite watercolor supplies in a new post soon. I also purchased the new Studio Calico Color Theory inks.  I'm impressed so far and am looking forward to inking those up more soon.

I've been dabbling a bit with some cards and I need quite a few thank you cards....so I'll be posting some creations made from my color kit items soon.  

Thank you so much for visiting.  It feels good to be in touch again.  

Get Well Soon Cards....shopping your stash for project inspiration

Today I'm sharing some get well cards that I needed for my stash.  I want to share a few thoughts about pulling together inspiration for a project by selecting items from your built up supply of crafty goodies.  A lot of times I say that "I shop my stash" and it's so true.  Digging back through your collection of supplies is almost as fun as shopping for new items.  Let me walk you through how I shopped my stash for this set of cards. 

First, I knew I wanted some get well cards.  I knew that this pretty set from Avery Elle called Petals and Stems had a new get well sentiment that I hadn't yet stamped.  So I set out that stamp on my work table. I thought the flowers and coordinating Die: Petals & Stems Elle-ments dies would be fitting for get well cards too so now the entire stamp set would be put to use + some coordinating dies.  

I often like to pair up stamp sentiments from different stamp sets.  The "just a note" sentiment has a beautiful script look to it and is a little bit bigger than the "get well" sentiment.  That stamp is from a Studio Calico stamp set but I can't find the name of it or a link to a photo of the set anywhere.  I'm pretty sure it's sold out....but it's the set with the eye glasses and library books.

Next up from my stash I wanted to select some patterned paper so I could select a color scheme for my card.  The floral paper and the aqua polka dot paper are both from the Gossamer Blue February Bits & Pieces Kit. I often like to go mixy matchy with my patterned papers and these two just looked so pretty together.

From that point I was ready to create my cards.  I used watercolors and gouache paints from my art cart to create the muted, die cut flowers.

Next, I added finishing details to my cards like the gold stitching between the sentiments, the two enamel dots, the dimensional flower and the messy nest of string that I collected from my sewing machine area.

I ended up creating a little gift item for an older friend/former teacher.  She had just had surgery and Eric always picks her up for their school board meetings since she doesn't drive well at night.  I wrote a nice message inside the card, packaged up some of my spiced hot tea mix & added a quick typed tag with Washi tape, then inserted them both into a white paper sack.  Tags and sacks are always, always items that I keep in my stash.  You can find lots of varieties in my shop at all times.

I must add that our friend just loved the gesture of a card and a little gift.  It feels SO good to give from the heart, especially when it's handmade and homemade goodies.  I hope you're inspired to shop your stash...get mixy matchy with your crafty supplies...and create something special for someone.  Valentine's Day is coming up with week.  For inspiration, check out my February Pinterest Inspiration Board.

Art card using using Gossamer Blue's April Main Kit....

April is AWESOME at Gossamer Blue.  Each and every one of this month's kits are just over the top good.  It's like Lori hand picked each item for me.  Seriously good.  As I type, the Main Kit and the Color Kit and the Add-on Paper Only are still available.  Kit quantities were increased this month but it's easy to see that you're loving Gossamer Blue.  

Here's a look at the April Main Kit which is still available.  The patterned papers are so fantastic and there are a gazillion embellishments to play with.  Did you know that you can see the listing of each kit's contents below the kit photo on the website? I counted over 20 line items for the main kit!

I love to see real life photos of kit items so here's a shot of when I tore into my Main Kit.  Such pretty little lovelies.  

At this time I had just gotten my Gesso so I was itching to play with it.  I grabbed the package of Studio Calico die cuts to see what I could do to tone the brightness down a bit.  

 Just a little swipe of Gesso on each die cut did the trick.

The first thing I wanted to create with was the adorable Maggie Holmes Fabric Frames from Crate Paper. Alas, they were a little big for a regular A2 card.  No worries though, I just cut a frame in half.  I'll have another post showing how I used the bottom of the denim fabric frame later on.  For today I used half of the frame to create a fun focal point.  

 I used the glittery Gold Thickers from American Crafts to spell out "art" then used the "awesome" flair button from the Lucky Charm Dear Lizzy pack.  Some of those Gesso covered die cuts are under each letter.  I stitched around the frame which has a grid paper underneath.  That green floral patterned paper from Crate Paper is one of my favorites from this month's kits. I finished the card off with a few resin flowers from my stash and placed a messy nest of string under the flair button.

 I used some scraps from the card to create a fun clothespin clip.  I slipped the card into a Large Glassine Sack along with some candies and closed it up with the clothespin.

I made this card just before heading out to parent/teacher conferences one night.  I love our high school art teacher and wanted to give her something special.  She is a 6 year breast cancer survivor and I took over her art classes for 6 weeks while she was having chemo treatments.  Having a wonderful arts program makes me feel so lucky as I know there are always talks of cutting out these types of classes.  I  always remember to let our teacher know how special she is to our art loving family. 

I'll be sharing more projects made with the April Gossamer Blue kits including more cards and Project Life pages.  Thanks for stopping by....and let me know if you're a Gossamer Blue kit subscriber or if you just grabbed a kit to try this month.  I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)

Art Journal....my very first page

Hey everyone, hope your week is off to a good start.  Before I share my fun post for today I want to remind you that April 1st means Gossamer Blue's new kits are up for sale.  Looks like they're going quickly....no joke....so be sure to check them out.  I absolutely loved this month's kits.  If I had to hand pick items for kits, this would be the stuff!  I'll be sharing lots of projects throughout the month using kit items so please visit often.  Also, our Guest Designer for April is Jennifer Kinkade.  Her work is fabulous and she's loving the mixed media on her work lately.  I instantly love her.  :)

That leads me right into today's post.  If you've been following my blog and Twitter then you know I'm dabbling with the mixed media too.  I have been doing lots of research on fun products, watching art videos like crazy and I've been collecting new supplies.  Here's a little shot of some of my new art supplies below. I'm so excited to be trying new things.  Don't worry...I still make cards, I still do Project Life, I still do fun packaging.  It might be all be a little more mixed up though as I discover new techniques to try.  New to me, I should say.  I'm not reinventing the wheel...just getting my feet wet in something new!

A while back, I believe last Summer, I offered up a kit in the shop using some Studio Calico 4 x 8 journals.  I compiled my supplies for own journal but never really got far.  I dug out that basket and am happy to report that I'm using it all again.  I thought it would make a perfect art journal, where I could try out new mixed media techniques without having any fear of commitment.  No pressure, no assignments...just experimenting to see what happens.  

When I first thought of creating art journal pages I immediately thought of of far out there, artsy creations that were way out of my style.  Then I got to thinking that an art journal is whatever you want it to be.  There are no rules.  There is no style to follow.  That's the beauty of an art journal.  There's also no pressure, no fear of failing, no judgement is needed.  So I'm going for it.  

The other thing I noticed when looking into art journals is that a lot of the focus is on using people and faces as focal points.  Eeek, drawing faces just scares me.  I've done my share in art classes and it's not my fave.  So I needed another focal point for my journals.  That's where all my fun mini Instagrams will come into play.  They're perfect!  Whether I find some Pinterest photos (just for my personal use only) or I use photos of flowers I've taken, etc I think they're going to be great.  So I printed off a bunch and will keep them in a little basket.  Each time I finish an art journal page I'm going to reach for a new Instagram and just dabble some more.  I hope you're inspired.  If not....just play along and don't tell me how bad it is, okay?

I dug right in on my first journal page and kind of forgot to snap the beginning photos.  But here is my 4 x 8 page in the early stages.  The base pages of my art journal are just pieces of patterned paper that I like.  This particular page had gridline circles on it.  I started out by punching more patterned paper circles and adhering them with matte gel medium from Claudine Hellmuth.  This stuff is like glue or mod podge.  You just slather it on your paper then slap it down.  I use my palette knife like I talked about last time.  I then added some old book paper.  This shot also shows some purple-y shading which is my Pan Pastels.  Lastly I used my Christy Tomlinson stencil from Pink Paislee and sprayed on some October Afternoon mist. 

Then I got daring.  And bright.  I used watercolors with lots of water to add some paint to the top of my journal page.  Then I tilted the page at an angle so the paint would run down the page.  Very cool.  Very fun.  And bright. 

One of the mixed media artists that I've found and really like is Dina Wakley.  Her artwork is bright and colorful and she has great design tips.  I purchased her book called Art Journal Freedom and it's awesome.  If you've seen her book, you might be saying, "Mish, her style is not your style."  True, but what I love is that I can see beyond Dina's style and work her methods into what is my style.  Her use of design principles and color is just fantastic.  You can click on her book link and take a peek at a few of her book pages.  So inspiring and she offers tons of tips.  One of her tips is to use Viva paper towels to sop up wet paint.  The whole roll!  Simple roll over your wet paint...just ONE time....to soak up excess paint.  Viva because they don't have patterns and one time so you don't smudge your paint.  Cool, yes?

So now on to a favorite new product I love.  Gesso!  This is the white medium that you apply to prime canvases but it's so fun to wipe over a project.  You can use a paint brush but if you remember last time, I talked about how I like the palette knives.  So much easier to clean up.  I wanted to tone down the bright colors and I may have gone a little overboard.  But I still love my first journal page.  A little, a lot, it's all good.  I love that I can smear a bit over my photos too to make them blend into my background.  Gesso is awesome stuff!

Then came the modeling past.  I really just didn't know when to stop, right?  I used a Studio Calico stencil and my palette knife to spread it on. I love the texture of this stuff.  Oh, and I wanted to tell you about the circles.  I used a Derwent 4B (soft) pencil to scribble circles around the patterned paper circles before apply the modeling paste. I do love working with pencils and the soft graphite is more appealing to me than a black marker that I see so many art journal artists use.  Much more subtle.  

For a finishing touch I added a quote sticker from Cosmo Cricket and some machine stitching.  It was so relaxing and fun to try out new techniques on my art journal page.  It's a great way to find new techniques to incorporate into my cards, etc.  I've read that lots of you are interested in using mixed media and trying out your own art journal pages. I do hope that you will join me.  I've got something fun coming to the shop too that you might be interested in.  It's all in the beginning stages but I think you'll like it.  :)

Here's the beginning of my next art journal page.  I've dedicated a spot to just dabbling with my art.  This way I can work on it here and there whenever the mood hits.  For this art journal page, I'm hoping to achieve a more minimalist look with my mixed media, letting that awesome ledger paper shine through.  

Thanks for joining me today!  

Project Life 2013....Week 5

Hey everyone.  I've had a few comments about what Project Life is and how I go about doing it.  I'll take some photos of an upcoming weekly spread to show you my process and describe a bit about Project Life to the new folks.  I'll also take some photos of my Project Life organization + a few ideas about organizing kit items.  

Today I have Week 5 of my Project Life 2013 to show you.  Here's the 2 page spread.   It's a very random week with just a lot of daily photos.  

I ended up using a lot of the Project Life Seafoam core kit for this week. It made the process go very quickly.  

 Just a handful of other embellishments like tags, Washi tape and chipboard letters.

 Here is my Calendar Card which has the week #, a few notes about the week and the dates that the week covers. Round tag is from Evalicious along with a few of her stamps.  I also used the Studio Calico Project Life stamp, covering up a portion with the chipboard #5.

 On this photo I used a Grid Paper Arrow Label that I ran through my typewriter.  I love that I can add these labels and they don't create any bulk to my pages.

Here I used a Seafoam 4 x 6 card with a portion of a notecard on the bottom for journaling.  Stamps are from Studio Calico Project Life kit. 

 Another Seafoam 4 x 6 card with 2 Instagram photos.  I used Washi tape for a quick embellishment.

 I created this collage in my iPhoto program.  Nothing too fancy but it was an easy way to get 8 photos on a 4 x 6 insert.

 On to the 3 x 4 inserts.  On the left I have one of my Wild Cards.  This card replaced my Week in Review cards this year.  Basically, anything goes....artwork, a random photo, a quote...or duct tape.  I used a Medium White Tag for the typewriter journaling.  For the card on the right, it coordinates with the next card in the photo below this one..see the main photo for the big picture.....basically I used 2 of the same journaling cards from the Seafoam kit to make a "this to this" mini layout, depicting our crazy change of weather.

 On the right I created my own journaling card using patterned paper, a punched circle of patterned paper and an Elle's Studio tag.

 The right card below is a Seafoam journaling card with chipboard lettering.  On the right I used a Small Manila Parcel Tag on an altered Elle's Studio card.

 More photos of Charlie.  He keeps us so entertained.

And that's a wrap for this week.  Thanks for stopping by.  :)  Stay tuned for the Gossamer Blue March release on March 1st.  I've got a lot of projects to show you this month....you card lovers will be happy. :)  Stay safe and warm this weekend...looks like more snow starting Sunday.  

Project Life 2013.....Week 4

Today I'm sharing Week 4 of my Project Life 2013.  I'm keeping in mind that I'd like to keep my Project Life to 2 albums this year. This week Josey got her wisdom teeth out so it was quite the big deal at our house.  Instead of creating a separate insert for this week I committed the full right spread of my weekly spread to Josey's wisdom teeth and the left page is for weekly happenings.  

Once again I treated the entire 2 page spread like a traditional scrapbook layout.  I coordinated my papers and embellishments so that the two pages blended together nicely.  This is the left page with the weekly happenings.

 This is the right page, all about Josey getting out her wisdom teeth. I was able to include 8 photos on this side....so much more than I would if I did a traditional layout.  That's what I LOVE about Project Life.  I'm capturing the photos, telling the stories, getting scrappy with it....but it's so much easier using the divided page protectors.  Still a huge fan!

My Calendar Card which replaces the weekly dated card & separate week in review card.  This is a favorite part of my Project Life right now.  I take a little extra time to fancy up this 4 x 6 insert a big.  I always make sure to get the week, the dates that week incurs and a recap of any special events.  My Calendar Card kind of sets the tone for the rest of my inserts. 

On to the 4 x 6 inserts.  I used a large circle tag from Elle's Studio for my title of Twinners and the typewriter journaling.  Monday stamp is from Studio Calico's Project Life kit.

 A special day for the high school kids.  The comedian/song writer Earl Dibbles came to perform at our school for the kids selling the most tickets to a second show that evening. I used another Elle's Studio circle journaling tag + a Medium White Tag.

 Oh poor Josey.  I used 2 Small White Tags with Studio Calico stamps to capture Josey's swelling.

Charlie to the rescue.  He stayed by Josey's side the entire week.  He could sense she was sick and needed some extra protection.  I created a flipper photo to reveal more photos and journaling, see below.

 I needed just a big more space so rather than add an extra insert, I've been creating these flipper photos with Washi tape.  I used a Becky Higgins Project Life grid journaling card with typewriter journaling.

Here I used two 3 x 4 slots to create a mini layout of a typical shopping day.  It's kind of pathetic to admit that grocery shopping and lunch afterwards was like a date for me and my husband.  We need to get out more without the girls. I used a Grid Paper Label for the typewriter journaling and stamped image.

 A typical shot of the living room and a screen shot of the temperature with some stickers added.

Here I used one of my new Grid Paper Arrow Labels for journaling + a vellum pocket tag that I recently had in the shop.  The XL Manila Parcel Tags trim down perfectly to fit into a 3 x 4 slot.

 I used simply index cards to type some more journaling + I slipped a business card into the pocket.  $800 bucks out of pocket expense for 4 wisdom teeth....Josey wasn't the only one hurtin', my checkbook was crying too.

 Here's another little mini layout I created by stretching my typed journaling card over two 3 x 4 cards.  I used the same patterned paper to tie the 2 inserts together.  Stamps are from Evalicious and Kelly Purkey.

So let's hear it Project Lifers.....how are you doing so far in 2013?  I'm caught up all on the weeks but I have some sports inserts to add + a few others.  I still have about 10 inserts to catch up on for 2012.  I need to just do it and get it done with.  I'm thinking simple, divided page protectors will be the way to go.