Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Really Frustrating!!!!

So I have been trying to blog here for days and for some reason I can't get pictures to load at all! They come up in the little window pop up thingy, but they only appear as a big code in my post. GGGGRRRRR! I am also missing the option to be able to center text, so that irks me too, but not nearly as much as not being able to get pictures up. Sigh.... Hopefully I'll get it working soon. Until then, I hope all is well in your creative worlds.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Some People I Love

Happy Monday! I am a bit thrown off, I can't center my post text, LOL! Not sure what's up with Blogger, but the option isn't here so on we go.

I totally didn't get as many posts done as I had hoped to since the last time, but I am creating up a storm all the time and will be content to share when I can.

I have some LOs today featuring pictures of me and some people who have a special place in my heart. These were both done for the January issue of Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. Speaking of the mag, I'll have some news to share about that at the end of the post.

For now, on to the LOs!

First up is a LO using a picture of me and my bio Grandpa. I just met him for this first time this past Fall and it was a really tremendous experience.

He's Been Waiting For Me



The call for this LO was to use only patterned paper. I had such a great time combining Echo Park, Crate Paper, and even a bit of Sass Lass to create this. Lots of fussy cutting went into this page, right along with a heapin' load of pop dots.


I love this little girl from Sass Lass. She was perfect for this page. The flower centers have a bit of puffy paint added to them. I have so much puffy paint it's ridiculous!


Title work. Love that deer!


Isn't my grandpa adorable? He has the softest skin ever and one of the kindest hearts.

This next LO was based off one of the SNR sketches for staffers to use and I decided to play with some paints on this one.

Always in my Heart


This is a LO of me and one of my past students. She stayed with our family for some time during her 8th grade year and my love for her just grew even more. She will always be close to my heart and I will ever think of her as a daughter.

I used some Ranger and Claudine paints, along with some Liquitex Fluid Acrylic Inks.
I used Jillibean Soup and October Afternoon goodies on this page. I love that I used all scraps and odds and ends of stuff.


These artisan elements by Pink Paislee are a fav of mine. At the moment I am pretty selective about what projects I use them on. I am enjoying hoarding them, LOL! I added some alcohol inks to it.

I am so glad I was finally able to share these with you! I also said I would share some exciting news about Scrapbook News and Review magazine with you. The big news is now you can enjoy issues 2x per month! Yep, you read that right. You pay one low monthly charge of 4.99 and you get 2 additions. The first issue is primarily eye candy and articles, the second is jam packed with tutorials and more articles. You don't want to miss it so be sure to get your subscription today!



Saturday, March 19, 2011

ATC Lovin'

Happy Saturday! It is a gorgeous day here and I am hoping the temps will get a bit higher so we could actually get outside and enjoy it!

I am totally hooked on ATCs and enjoy the creative freedom you have when making them. I love using all sorts of goop on them and figuring out how to place everything I want on them. They become tiny little pieces of art and my collection is growing rapidly!

Here are a few I have done recently:

House of Blues


This one was created for the January issue of Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. The call was for music themed ATCs and I went with a Blues theme. The chipboard piece is from Maya Road. I stamped it with a music stamp from The Girls' Paperie and painted it with some Luminiere.

The background was made using Black Lava texture paste. Then I used a stamp from Glitz with some paint on it to get the small dots and a recycled tape roll for the larger circles. The rubon is from Hambly and I was super happy it went on so well over the Black Lava.

Soul Sistah


This is another one for the music call at Scrapbook News and Review Magazine's January issue. I love all sorts of music and thought it would be fun to represent that I am truly a soul sistah when it comes to my choices.

The background is a sticky back canvas ATC base made by Ranger. I used some paint on it and then stamped some of my fav genres onto it. I drew the silhouette onto some watercolor paper, painted it, adhered it to the base with some gel medium, and then outlined it with a silver paint marker. The edges were created with silver UTEE.

Pray


Luck has nothing to do with it, Pray! I love this saying and happened upon it when I was blog surfing. I wish I could remember where I saw it to give credit back, but the only thing that stuck with me was the saying, LOL! I just find this saying to be so true. We often depend on luck or wish we were lucky like so and so, but the truth is nothing in life is brought about by luck. If we want or need something we should turn to our good Lord and pray on it.

I have a tutorial up on the SNR front page blog on how to create the background you see. It's so quick and easy, but opens a ton of possibilities for all your crafty projects. I used a 7 Gypsies flashcard and cut of the Y for the word luck, misted it, and added the border with some markers. The letters are some really old Making Memories ones that I love so I was happy to use them.

Thanks for stopping by today!! I am hoping to be back tomorrow with some LOs I have had in my stash to share for awhile. Enjoy your day and may God Bless you with Happiness today!




Wednesday, March 16, 2011

One Heavy Layout!

Happy Wednesday! I have a ton of projects to share with you and never seem to get all the time I would like to do so. Therefore I am going to try and make a real conscious effort to begin sharing them. All of these projects are ones I have had published in Scrapbook News and Review Magazine. I always get soo excited about what I create for them as a staffer and think about how I can't wait until I can share them with you all here. Then I lose track of time and here I sit with many things to get blogged.

The layout I am sharing with you today was for a use stash call. We had to create LOs using our chipboard stash. I had NO problem at all meeting this challenge, LOL! I have a ton of chipboard and I put some goop and mixed media techniques to work to create this:

This Face



That's a whole lotta chipboard, huh?!!! I can safely say I barely made a dent in my stash tho', LOL!!! I created this LO on some recycled packaging from a frozen pizza box. I applied a layer of super heavy gesso by Golden onto the base and then worked at placing all the papers, chipboard, and picture on top of it. Once everything was set in I had to leave the LO to dry overnight. I created a glaze with paint and glazing medium, then washed it over the entire LO.



Once the glaze was dry, I was able to write over it to get my journaling on. It talks about how grown up my little girl's face looks these days and how time has gone so quickly since she was born. The butterflies were added after the glaze and are covered in PearlEx that I turned into a paint. I then covered these with a bit of Diamond Glaze. The colored letters are all letters in my daughter's name. Kind of fun, but was such a long process finding every one, LOL!! You can also see in this picture the other letters have light hints of color. I used some Perfect Pearls and dusted them over the entire LO. I seriously wish you could see how sparkly and gorgeous this LO is IRL!



This pictures is rather small, so you can't really see the texture added to the bird's wing with some more gesso and then painted over with my PearlEx mixture.



And here's my little apple tree. I used some Luminiere metallic paints on this (these paints are to die for!!! I am seriously hooked on them!) and then added texture to the apples with one of my texture pastes. I honestly can't remember which one, but I am thinking maybe it's some glass bead gel. You can also see the Perfect Pearls dusting a bit better in this picture.

This LO is seriously heavy and could be considered a weapon in the wrong person's hands, LMBO!! I adore it though and had a super fabulous time creating it. My mind is all over trying to figure out ways to change up my LOs using mixed media techniques and supplies and I am having a blast learning so many new things.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope your day is filled with sunshine and happiness!! It's what we make out of whatever is given to us for today that counts, so make it a great one!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Right Now....

I am totally into art journaling. I could sit and do it for hours on end and never tire. I love that my journal is a place where I can play with ideas and techniques and not have to worry about anything being perfect or just right. It's also a great place for me to get thoughts and feelings out. When I am done with a page I always feel so free and ready to tackle whatever comes my way next.

Here's a background I created this week for my art journaling group at Scrapbook News and Review:



I love circles and paint drips so you will probably be seeing both on a lot of my future pages. You wouldn't believe how this page started out. I was pretty much ready to just turn the page, LOL, and start a new one. But I pushed through anyway and the ending result is one I really am pleased with.

To see the end product of this page and to get some step by step instructions on how this page came about, head on over to SNR. There is a post on the front page blog with all those deets for you to check out and if you're interested in getting started in art journaling join us in the art journaling group.

Hope the start to wekend is a great one! I plan on getting lots of artistic juices out and flowing! God Bless ~ Scarlett

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Welcome March

I love when March rolls in. It holds the promise of Spring coming, is my birthday month, and for me feels like it's time to get a fresh start on things. I know that may seem odd since a lot of people look at fresh starts happening in January with the New Year, but I just can't do it then. Must be Winter, LOL!

One of the things I am really focusing on in my crafty adventures for a fresh start is Mixed Media. I so loved art classes when I was younger and really got into it in high school thanks to a tremendously great art teacher. I participated in shows, learned about all sorts of mediums, and really found my artistic self. When I became college bound all that seemed to be put on the back burner. I have really been enjoying discovering this side of myself again lately and will look forward to sharing more and more projects with a mixed media spin on them with you all.

One way I plan on doing this consistently is by using Lucy's card sketches from My Sketch World to create ATCs for my DT assignments. I love using Lucy's sketches to begin and they translate really well into ATCs.

Here is the 1st one I made:

Butterflies Are....



I used Sassfras Lass papers and some cut portions of a Hambly transparency for the base. Then I added some glass bead gel I colored with paint to the edges. The butterflies were dipped in UTEE and then I added a glass bead to the larger one. The bottle cap is from Maya Road and filled with some more Sass papers along with a Maya Road chipboard word. The edges of the bottle cap and the writing were done with a paint marker. I must say they are like my new fav go to!

Here is the sketch I used to create it from:



There is a fabulous new 2 pager sketch up for March at MSW so be sure to check that out along with all the DT creations. Lucy has created a special gallery for ATCs now so if you happen to feel the urge to try something new, or to share ATCs you've already done, we'd love to see what you've created!