Expressing My Creativity

Sister Scrapping Siesta!!

2008-09-13T21:51:24Z

In a little while I'll be heading out to Portland, OR to visit my sister as a belated birthday present. I'll be staying the night and spending the majority of the day with her tomorrow. And what does she want to do for her birthday?....SCRAPBOOK!! Ah, there are so many reasons I love my sister. Apparently she's been saving up some photos and she wants to do something "fun" with them, so asked me to bring along some of my goodies to do some scrapbooking and I - being the kind and generous and supporting sister that I am - was only too happy to oblige.

I'm not really sure if I'll work on any specific projects myself...maybe I'll just take lots of pictures and then I'll have something fun to scrapbook when I get home. We'll see how it goes. I hope everyone out there is enjoying the nice weather this weekend.

Hip 2b Square Scrapbooking

2008-08-28T16:30:49Z

To say that I've been remiss in updating this journal would be the understatement of the year. But a crashed computer tends to disrupt one's online activity.

*waves to those of you still checking this*

Yes, I am alive and well. Haven't been doing too many scrapbooking or stamping projects lately. It took me awhile to get back into my groove, and I'm still struggling. As excited as I was about moving to another state and opening my own store, I knew I was going to be sad about leaving the Stampbug in Salinas, CA. Little did I know HOW much I was going to miss not just the store, but the terrific women who run it (Becky & Sylvia, I love you girls!) and all the other great women who have become permanent fixtures there. I miss my Should Be Saturday Club.
When I got unpacked and set up all my scrapbooking things, I realized that every time I started working on something, I felt really down and sad that I wasn't at the Stampbug working on these projects and that my friends were far away. So I stopped. *gasp, splutter, look of shock and terror* Yeah, I know. I didn't think it was possible either, but I did. No more scrapbook pages, no more altered albums, no more cards, no more ATCs...nothing.
I've been doing my best to visit different scrapbook/stamping stores I've heard about in the area, but nothing compares to the Stampbug. I know that logically that's not a fair statement to make and that my opinion is just biased, but I felt like saying, "I just need more time." Stampbug felt like the girlfriend I never wanted to break up with.
Two days ago, I visited a scrapbooking store that warmed my heart a little and made me feel inspired to get back into the swing of things. The store is called Hip 2b Square Scrapbooking and focuses primarily on scrapbooking. (A quirk of the stores in this area is they tend to focus either on scrapbooking OR stamps...not too much of a crossover.)

www.hip2bsquarescrapbooking.com

I chatted with the owner, Kimberly, for a little over an hour. She showed me around the store and talked about the different classes and crops they offer and different charity/community events they participate in. Oh yeah, their crops? Every Saturday from 10:30am-Midnight, cost $15 with a 20% discount off any purchase and they provide food and drink all day! Can you feel my excitement oozing through the monitor? I liked that the store was more open and didn't have such a claustrophobic feel to it (which a couple I've visited have) and that I was greeted right when I walked in and even though she didn't know me from Adam, she still took the time to visit with me and make me feel welcome. Nobody could ever replace my Salinas Scrapbooking Sisters...but I recognize the value in building new friendships that are a little closer to home.

Oh yeah, and at the conference I attended in Orlando over the summer I won a brand new 12.0mega pixel HD digital camera...so there may be more photos (and posts, I promise!) showing up on this journal. Thanks again to any of you who have hung in there and waited for me to reappear. I appreciate each and every one of you.

Battle of the Sexes

2007-12-21T04:35:25Z

Last month, I took a class taught at the Stampbug by a woman named Desiree and absolutely loved the result. I knew that I was going to be gifting this item to my mom once I found the right pictures to pull it off. It's a checkerboard on one side and a nice matt/frame for a photo on the other and is designed to hang on the wall when it's not in use. I found pictures of all of my brothers and sisters (and me, of course) and punched out our faces and adhered them to the bottle caps which are the playing pieces for the game. The entire thing is done on a sheet of metal, and there are magnets beneath the bottle caps so they'll "stick" to the board when it's hanging. And if you look closely (depending on how well the photos come out), you can see that I've arranged the pieces so that it's all the sisters against the brothers. I can't wait for my mom to open this present!!

A gift for Sam

2007-12-21T04:28:58Z

This is a mini album I made for my brother, Sam, who really likes making his own CD's. I used old DVD's for the album with a hole punched in the top and a jump ring looped through the holes. This way, I was able to avoid the need for ribbon (he's not a huge fan) and I can decorate and send more CD's to him over time, and he can just loop them onto the album in whatever order he likes. If you're wondering, I used the Crop-A-Dile Eyelet setter to punch the holes, and it worked like a charm!

The caption reads "horsin' around"...because what else do boys do?

Here he is with one of his sisters. In making this album, I realized that I need to start getting in front of the camera more often.

A couple of the last "pages" in this album, and some of my favorites. The little metal clock charm I used was relatively heavy, and the liquid glue I was using didn't seem to be working on the slick surface of the DVD. Amazingly, tiny glue dots (I had to use 3) seem to be working fine.

Yes, I do layouts, too...

2007-11-12T19:40:17Z

Here's a layout that I don't have pictures for, yet. This will be the first year in quite some time that I will be able to go home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. I always forget to take photos, so to encourage myself, I decided to start building layouts so that I will be inspired to take lots of photos. This one I initially began with the idea of Thanksgiving in mind...but when it was finished I decided it could work just as well for Fall. The versatility means that it shouldn't matter what I photograph, those pictures should be able to go right on the page.

I couldn't get the two pages to fit next to one another in the picture, but the first page would go to the left and the second page to the right. I did the leaf pattern at the base of the cardstock by using a Heidi Swapp mask of a leaf and then painting over it with a Tim Holtz paint dauber in Silver. I really liked the result. The bird is an embossed chipboard that I painted.

Reading: Life Artist by Ali Edwards

Christmas Cards First!!

2007-11-12T19:29:05Z

Okay, I knew you thought this would never come, but here's another post from me. And this one contains pictures!! I've been spending my days off at the StampBug and - naturally - my creativity has blossomed as a result. I've been cranking out holiday cards like it was Christmas Eve. At this rate, I'm going to have to start selling my cards, I'll have so many!

I'm still learning how to take decent pictures, so bear with me on the quality of these, but you can get an idea of what I've been working on.

The greeting for these says "Merry Christmas".

The greeting for these says "Season's Greetings"

More "Season's Greetings"

More "Merry Christmas"

I had a lot of fun making these, and used up a lot of scraps. My challenge was to make cards with holiday-themed paper I still owned from prior years that I had yet to use up. I have a bunch more that I made with some of the new Basic Grey holiday paper that I will be sharing soon. Thank you for looking, and please feel free to comment. I take all sorts of criticism. :)

Reading: Life Artist by Ali Edwards

Organizing

2007-08-20T19:45:04Z

I'm using the last day of my 3-day weekend to really organize my scrapping space and get it set up so that it's a little more conducive to inspiring me to create. I got rid of all the other boxes that were piled up around the space and finally got some stuff up on the walls. I know that it's not going to be perfect, but it will help me test out a few different configurations of how I want my supplies set up so that when I get into a more permanent residence, I'll already have a good idea as to how I want my stuff set up. I also moved my floor lamps around so I have much better lighting for my workspace, which I expect will help my productivity immensely.

No doubt, this means there will be pictures coming soon, so stay tuned!

Reading: Big Book of Scrapbooking ~ Memory Makers Books

My first ATC

2007-08-09T17:57:18Z

Yes, I realize this is a little late, but I'm finally getting some images up here. This is the first ATC I made, followed by a few others I did shortly after that. Chances are I'll be moving over to blogspot soon, since I have a feeling I'm going to be posting a lot more images once I get the hang of it.

This is the front and back of an ATC I did for a theme that was "weird stamps". I don't think I have any weird stamps, but this little raccoon guy was just begging to be used:

This is one I still haven't traded because I haven't designed anything for the back of the card, yet. I really like it, though, and will probably finish it up for our next swap which takes place on the 31st. The caption reads: "The question shouldn't be IF it is beautiful, but HOW is it beautiful."

Reading: Creative Stamping for Scrapbookers from Memory Makers Books

Summer Cleaning

2007-07-11T00:21:32Z

It has occurred to me that if I'm going to be putting this blog on the back of my atc's, then I'd better start putting something interesting on here. So far, it doesn't look like much of anyone has been looking at this too much, anyway, so at least I can get a fresh start on things.

Today I am going through all of my scrapbooking stuff and organizing it. I've got a crop coming up this Friday (Friday the 13th, no less!) and realized that it was time to get organized! My level of disarray had reached the point that I no longer could find all of my rubber stamps and had completely forgotten about some of the paper I'd purchased. So, today I will get organized. That still leaves me two days (3 if I count the early part of Friday) to plan out what I'm going to be making and get my supplies all together.

The Should Be Saturday Club (SBSC) is still doing very well, although my new job has made it more difficult for me to make my appearances as regular as I would like them to be. Somewhere along the way, I got appointed the president of the club. Go me! I am happy to hear that new people are getting recruited to the group without me physically having to be there. This is definitely one of those projects that I want to take on a life of its own and do really well.

Okay, enough chatting, back to organizing.

My mother is a witch and my father is a warlock?

2007-04-01T19:55:35Z

Yesterday was another successful day for the Should-Be Saturday Club (SBSC). I got to spend almost all day visiting with Sandie - one of my favorite women and I got two layouts and five cards made! While we were visiting, a character walked into the store. He wasn't a man, he wasn't a person, he was a character. If you've ever seen Mary Poppins, recall the image of Dick Van Dyke when he was working as a "one man band", then take away the drums and add about a pound of dirt and filthy pants that are just about to fall off...and you're getting close to the kind of character that I'm referring to. Eve (one of the employees there) actually muttered under her breath, "Oh no." and I was honestly afraid to turn around to see who she was talking about.

To say that he had a few screws loose would've been giving him credit for actually having screws in the first place. I doubt he even knows what a screw is. Anyway, everyone was trying to be as nice as possible to him and then he blurts - out of nowhere - "Well, it doesn't matter just because all your mothers were witches and your fathers were warlocks!"

*blink, blink*

For some reason, "Thank you, and have a nice day." just doesn't seem like an appropriate response to a comment like that. Then again, what would an appropriate response be?

As always, I can count on my good buddy, Sandie, to come to the rescue with a reply in tricky situations. She put a very surprised look on her face and then said in a hushed voice, "How did he know?"

Laughter is never in short supply at the SBSC.

A scrapper's St. Patty's Day

2007-03-18T17:21:57Z

I'll admit it. The extent of my St. Patty's Day celebratory gestures consist of wearing a green shirt and eating a green bagel (since I can't find anyplace that serves green eggs and ham *wink*). The holiday doesn't really mean all that much to me, either way, and the whole "drinking" thing is definitely out for me. That being said, I wasn't about to waste my day off, so here's some highlights:

~Went to the Stampbug for our "Should-Be Saturday" club meeting. Got to see Breezy!!! Which was really exciting since it's been a few months since I've managed to see her. She was working on some amazing cards and I got some good tips from her on design ideas. Her only protection against the "pinch-factor" of the holiday was a green feather she had tucked behind one ear. The only problem was that every time she got up to walk around the store, the feather would fall out. Before I realized she'd been wearing a feather, I had noticed that she wasn't wearing any green, and the following conversation ensued:

Me:"So...you're not wearing green today?"
Breezy:"Oh, I had a green feather." Pause as she looks around on the table and floor for it, then:"Did I lose it?"
Me:"Breezy, you lost it a long time ago!"
Giggling erupts.

A little silly, I know, but members of the Should-Be Saturday club aren't allowed to take themselves too seriously. The rest of the day was filled with us "catching" her without her feather and saying, "Breezy, you lost it again!"

~While at the store, I decided to challenge myself to do something creative using only the items I'd purchased that day. This came about because I have so much fun purchasing new supplies, and then go home and make something with old supplies that I've had hanging around for awhile. I am proud to say that I created three different Easter/Spring cards and used the same stamp on all of them.

The Should-Be Saturday Club

2007-03-04T18:31:52Z

Even though I had to work a little yesterday, I really needed for the day to feel like a day off, so I headed over to the StampBug to register for some classes and just "hang out". Within about 1/2 an hour of arriving, there were five other "regulars" that showed up there. None of this was planned, it just sort of happened. And it seems to happen every Saturday when I go there. Granted, Sandi pretty much lives there, and it was nice to see Margaret and wish her a happy birthday. Wendy brought in some of the jewelry she's been working on. Her metal pieces are fantastic! If I were a rich lady, I would definitely be putting in some orders. One of her bracelettes took her 40 hours to make!

As we sat around the table munching on peanuts and visiting, each woman would occasionally sigh or laugh and say, "Well, I really should be doing laundry/grocery shopping/working on the yard/buying shoes/etc." I found it ironic, because in the back of my mind, I'd been thinking that I "should be" at home doing some housework and working on the yard, since it was so nice out. And yet, each one of us had decided - instead - to come to the StampBug to visit with one another. I finally said, "You know, we should call this the Should-Be Saturday Club!" Everyone got a kick out of it and we had a good laugh. Still, I think it will be interesting to see how future Saturdays go.

I signed up for one card-making class and two scrapbooking classes. The card on is this coming Tuesday and the design looks really complicated, even though I've been assured it's a simple technique. Depending on how it goes, I may try incorporating something similar onto an ATC. Later on in the month are the scrapbooking classes. One is a layout for a road trip and the other is about creating and using sketches. Since I like the "Becky Higgin's Sketches" column in the Creating Keepsakes magazine so much, I figured this would be a good class for me to take. I'll do my best to remember to post with the results here.

Successful Swap

2007-02-18T02:56:12Z

Well, I wasn't able to make it to the ATC meet-up last night, but I did drop my finished cards off ahead of time and one of the women there was kind enough to make sure I got one of everyone who came. Our "theme" was to use a weird stamp/design that we had. I have to admit that I never considered any of my stamps "weird", but it was a fun exercise to prompt me to look at my stamps in a different light. Some of the other cards were really great and gave me some good ideas. I've been creating like a fiend today, and will do my best to post some pics later on here.

amadscrapper @ 2007-02-15T19:29:00

2007-02-16T03:38:19Z

From the looks of this journal I've been more of a sad scrapper instead of a mad scrapper. With the beginning of the new year (yes, I KNOW it's already February) I am going to do my best to live up to my self-imposed namesake here. I did manage to finish my second batch of ATC's for the meetup tomorrow night. However, because I work, I won't be able to attend. :( Although, I've had a pesky cold that's refused to go away, so part of me is debating pulling a "sick day" and leaving a little early. Again, I don't have any pics of my atc's yet, but as soon as I do, I will post them.

My first card was very simple and involved stamping an image, masking it, and then coloring in the front image. For my second series, I decided to do something that would enable me to use stickers and pop up dots. I think it turned out rather well. And of course there was stamping, too. I'm thinking that for my next series I'm going to try something different, though. Maybe a new technique? And seeing as how I'm beginning now, that gives me plenty of time to plan. I also purchased a package of 100 pre-cut blank white ATC cards. It was a bit of a splurge, but at 3.75/100, that's only about 3 cents per card...so I consider it an affordable splurge. I think that by using these pre-cut cards, I won't be so hesitant to experiment with different designs for ATC's. When I cut cards from 12X12 paper I've purchased, I always feel pressure to make something really good out of each one I cut.

It's time to let my creativity run free!

ATC's

2006-12-01T07:57:38Z

Well, I've finished all 24 of my first batch of ATC's (artist trading cards). I joined a group at a local scrapping store (The StampBug of Salinas, California) and they're having their first get together next Friday where we're going to swap our cards. My fingers are a little tired, but I'm very excited about them. It was definitely a new experience - having to work on such a small canvas - but one that I will likely repeat. Once I have some pictures taken, I will post them.