WOYWW 302 - Calvinball

Another edition of What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday - see the creator of the amazing weekly event (Julia) here.

I'm still playing Calvinball with my friends over at GetitScrapped.com and one of my own rules for the game was to make a layout where the embellishment is the focal point.  And so the adventure began.  I've truly obsessed over this task: from choosing just the right story to tell, to hand making the embellishment myself. 

Yes, I've made this embellishment right down to the tomato label on top of the rosette - created in photoshop:

And THIS is why I rarely get things done quickly and why I'll never win a Calvinball competition! But this is a ton of fun - and I think I'll treasure this layout when it's done!

What's On Your Work-desk Wednesday - 298

See the work-desks of others all over the world right HERE on Julia's blog.

I've started to knock out my UFOs (UnFinishedObjects) this year. Yahooo!  And so that's what you'll see on my work-desk today.

There's a 6x12 layout on my desk that I probably printed off 4 years ago.  The photo and background were created together digitally and I printed it with all intentions to finish it with my traditional supplies.  It's one of my favorite photos EV.ER even though my toilet is in the background.  After every bath my boys would squat down and cuddle up in their towels.  They would remain in that position for a while and I'd have to pick them up "as is" and plop them on their beds.  

You can see a box of bling to the right.   That was sent to me from American Crafts from a promotional contest many years ago (tHaNk YoU!) and I used some of the brads from it to adhere my old Heidi Swapp clear stars from my stash.  They worked perfectly.  You can also see a tag and a frame diecut as I try to figure out how to make my journaling and title.

Other things from my desk:  Two Jenni Bowlin Studio storage boxes as I'm reorganizing my vintage treasures.  You can also see my stamp pads, newly labeled.  I've also got a bottle of Glossy Accents as I was going to use that to adhere the stars, but the brads worked so nicely.

Here's the start ... and since I'm the slowest scrapper this side of the Mississippi, it may stay this way for a while.  But I hope to have something new on my desk for next week!

Thanks for visiting!

WOYWW - 297

Very excited to once again participate in WOYWW!  My hiatus was way too long.

If you want to know what this amazing link party is all about check out Julia's What's On Your Workdesk post here!

This was my desk yesterday.  I have wanted to experiment more with my supplies this year.  I definitely need guidance when trying new artsy techniques, so I went online and found this artist: Marta Lapkowska and a mixed media video she did.  Check Marta out - she does wonderfully artsy things.

Her video was the jumpstart and inspiration I needed to get going.  In the photo above you can see my old book pages, gesso, and Dylusion sprays - the backbone of the piece.  Also on my desk are bits and pieces of the February Magpie Box.  I used the ADORABLE vintage German Scrap girl as inspiration for the colors in the piece and pulled out one of the German Foil hearts and scalloped hearts to work with.

  

It's funny - I had cut random words from an old book I have and placed them on the page in no particular order.  But its a bit poetic to read them now as they happened to fall on the page:

birds or animals

galloping away together

spirit of the race.

Little pebbles

rich in gold

WOYWW 277 | A New Kit

It's Wednesday and I have stuff on my desk to share!  Wooo hooo!  I love a new project on my desk!

Most of everything here is from the new October JBS Mercantile Kit, so yes, I guess this is a bit of a sneak peek at what's coming.

I've started a 12x12 page - it going to be totally fall-ish, with a favorite photo(s) of dear niece that I just took the other day.  It's so nice to have nieces that actually LOVE to pose for the camera.  When I say LOVE, I mean L-O-V-E.

You get a good view of the exclusive stencil in the kit which I'm not using on this page, but am dyin' to use on the next.  To the right is my tiny attacher - i've been using it a lot lately.  The rectangle of white above that is hard to see but they are white photo corners.  I've been loving photo corners lately.

If you want to know what WOYWW is all about, visit Julia's blog here.  She started this amazing weekly blog get-together!

Thanks for visiting!

WOYWW 274 | The Year Long Simple Project

If any family / friends are reading this - the gift described with much pain below is a SECRET!  No talkin' k?

I'm participating in another WOYWW - this one is number 274 - wow!  Check out Julia's post who started this long running blog sensation here: Stamping Ground.

This is something different on my workdesk today, something which should have been fun, but has turned out to be a year of torture!  You see, a very dear childhood/neighborhood friend had a great idea.  He sent me a fishing fly that my grandpa tied and gave to him many many years ago.  My grandpa has well since passed and dear friend thought it would be a great idea if I could make something out of the fly for my brother's birthday ... he sent this in May 2013.  Dear friend even sent me money for supplies.  Brother's birthday was in August 2013.  Two birthdays have passed.  My dear friend still speaks to me, but he must think I'm weird, or troubled, or not really a crafter. Just pretending to be.

I was stuck - really stuck on what to do with it.  My original idea was shot down by dear friend.  At which point I knew I was making something that dear friend actually had opinions and ideas about.  That's what froze me.  I not only needed to make something I would like or my brother would like, but dear friend had to (rightfully) like it too.

Yikes.

Then finally it all came to mind.  Almost 1-1/2 years later I got a very simple idea and I'm hoping it will work.  Dear friend approves.  Whew.

I'm taking a graduation-type frame and am hanging the fly where the tassel would normally be.  The photo area will hold two sepia toned photos of my grandpa fishing from the 1930's.  I searched on ebay for gold foil fish that would look gorgeous with the sepia and will probably place one in between the photos.  I'm keeping it all very simple and will show you the finished project soon.

My biggest problem has been getting proper sepia tone copies of the beautiful sepia toned photos I have.  Every effort to reproduce them has given them a reddish brown color.  It is this yellowish/brownish/gold that I'm looking for:

I'll take any hints you may have for getting this done.  I've been trying on my own home printer and that could be the problem.  Next stop is a pro shop ... if they still exist.  Or perhaps I'm just being picky and that's why this has taken me 1-1/2 years to finish!

| very beginning stages |

Thanks for stopping by!

WOYWW : 269

If you want to find out about WOYWW and see awesome creative workspaces in action, visit Julia,  who started the whole wonderful thing right here.

digital mask altered from Nancie Rowe Janitz at Snap Click Supply Co.

Here's my desk this morning.  I also had the urge to play with some digital masks, so I threw my workspace inside one here.

I'm working on a page that tells the story of the day we got our dog.  Every once in a while, I'll look at ds#2 (he was there) and say "Let's talk about the day we got Shiner"... it's just filled with such sweet memories.  I thought I'd get some of it down in print on a layout.  I'm totally diggin' naturals and plain backgrounds right now.  I have gone this route many times before.  I guess it may be the way I was meant to create.

In the desk background you can see a supply of newer Jenni Bowlin Studio product and yes, I'm saving a lot of the natural and wood embellishments close at hand ... it's what I'm using these days.

I'm being interviewed Friday morning for the Visual Storytelling class at Get It Scrapped - I may use this layout for that - not sure right now.

More goodies hit my doorstep today.  Lots of beachy and gold stuff.  Can't wait to clear the workspace and start on something new!

WOYWW : 263 {My Flea Market Finds}

 

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesdays.

Julia started this wonderful tradition of sharing your workspace on Wednesdays.  You can see her edition right here. I haven't been good at participating lately, but just had to share the flea market smalls sitting on my desk waiting for me.

I attended the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck New York a couple weekends ago.  I love fairs and flea markets.  And rarely do I go to one without a plan in mind.  This trip, *besides meeting and spending time with Jenni and Jared Bowlin*, I was looking for a large wooden or metal piece to replace my plastic iris cart.  I did not have any luck there, but I did get some smalls ... each one with a bit of plan in mind.  

Everything's been sitting on my desk since I've come back, and I moved it outside for photos.

And here's the plan I have for these little sweet treasures:

So that's what's on my desk today!

WOYWW : 244

Wow - it's been forever since I've done a WOYWW post.  I MISS IT!  I miss seeing others' spaces.  It makes me feel good to peek into the creative spaces of other people around the world.  It makes me feel connected.

If you want to see Julia's post, who started this whole wonderful thing, look here.

Here's my desk today:

Bits and pieces from the February JBS Mercantile Papercrafting kit - including the Antiquarian. Oh so pretty.

Where I am right now ... is trying to figure out which of the hundreds of ideas i have for the numbered tickets and safety pin ring I should pursue: mini album with the tickets hanging from the pins ... a "laundry list" layout ... using the tickets for a baseball layout : ds' number is 26 ... and on and on!

Thanks for visiting!  So looking forward to seeing desks today!

WOYWW : 228

WOYWW was started by Julia and you can see her post right here.

Well my desk was spic and span clean on Monday and by Tuesday it looked like this:

A combination of Halloween projects and a couple of retreat projects I needed to mend/finish.  I kept bouncing from one thing to another and the ideas wouldn't stop.  It was one of those days ...

This is a close up of some of the Halloween things I'm working on.  The raffia is a wreath I may decorate.  That's one of those ideas that ran into my head and then out, just as fast.

I took 2 classes at an Art-Is-You Retreat this past weekend.  The event happens every October just 8 minutes from my house, so I can't resist going.  And truly, I have NEVER been disappointed.  I've taken a total of 5 classes at this retreat in 3 years - I never do the WHOLE retreat - and I've learned SO MUCH each time.  I'll usually choose a class that I think will challenge me a bit.  Both classes I took this time involved sewing.

Linda Willis taught us how to make fabric dolls.  Many students left with 3 dolls - I did two and hope to make more at home.  Linda is such a nice person and such a wonderful teacher.  I just love the quirky snowman I made:

and the little monster - he's going to my son Matthew:

Nellie Wortman taught a class on a fabric/paper journal.  Her technique for sewing her covers was amazing.  She is such an artist.

This is the one I did - it still needs some tweaking.  I want to make a million of these.

The best things about the classes is that you learn techniques that you can use in other projects or with other crafts.  Incredible stuff really.  And the people you meet along the way ... I love connecting at these events.

Have a great and wonderfully creative day!

WOYWW : 226 : Late Night Tuesday into Wednesday

If you want to know what WOYWW is all about, see Julia's post here!

So this was my desk Tuesday evening.  I had an idea and messy experimenting was taking place.

Working with a brand new October Mercantile kit ...

Love this photo from years ago of Matt acting the part ...

After a very late night, my desk looked like this in the morning ...

I'm totally getting the look I wanted which RARELY happens for me.

And when you really LOVE a sheet of paper in the kit, you must do something like this to save every last bit!

thanks for visiting!

have a creative day!

WOYWW : 225

It's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday and you can check out Julia's post here.  She started this wonderful Wednesday event.

I stayed up late last night experimenting.  I couldn't quite get the look I was going for, but it's getting close.

I was working with my Mercantile kit for October - so here's a sneak - it's beautiful.  I so love the paper line featured in the main kit.  Hint:  it's name is an orange fruit and begins with "p".

I was trying to get a chalkboard look up top ... I tried acrylics, mists, acrylic mists ...  and then I needed to lighten it up.  I like this artsy thing, I think I should do more of it.  I changed up my scrap area a bit which made working with messy paints a bit easier.

It's a beautiful day here in CT ... so I have to balance my scrapping with enjoying the sunshine today.

Thank you for visiting!  Have a creative day!

If you are coming to my blog for the Echo Park / JBS Photo Freedom blog hop - see the post below!

WOYWW : 223

Here is my very late addition to the WOYWW files started by Julia on her blog.  I type this afraid to touch anything as my internet service has been up and down for a couple of weeks.  I thought I was smart enough to fix it myself, but I guess not.  So I have a rare opportunity to post and I will. I'm sitting here like a scared little kitten afraid to touch any wire or move anything!

I want to show my workdesk this weekend - I was away taking ds#2 to college and took a quick and easy project I could finish at the hotel room desk.

I pretty much fit everything in this plastic carry all ... and thought it quite appropriate to get moving on ds's college baseball book.  My goal was to finish the dividers for the book!

I've collected supplies that work well with his school colors and baseball.  The canvas stars were painted and splattered before I left and stored on wax paper.

More supplies that work well.  I keep them all together ...

And for once I have a finished product to show you:

I love them - they look awesome as dividers in his book!

Have a great day at your desk today!