Today I Choose Joy

I spent Saturday morning at Starbucks working on a canvas for a friend of mine. She likes “simple”, trees, and the colors blue and green, and we have recently been talking about choosing to live in joy and peace. This isn’t exactly a “simple” piece, but I’m hoping she’ll enjoy it anyway.

I followed the same basic process I typically use, and took pictures of it:  paint the background, use mod podge to adhere tissue paper in the shape of a tree (above); cut and adhere the grass shape (I also used some Staz-on to ink the edges), stencil images in the background (below).

I also painted the tree using my finger, trying to make some areas darker than others, and used stamps to create images on the grass and in the background (top below). Then I punched out leaf shapes and layered them onto the tree in four layers (bottom two below).

                                              

Once I was satisfied with the shape of the leaves I stamped the sentiment and used Thickers to emphasize the word “joy”. And there you have it, quick and easy.

Mixed Media Monday: Surprise!

For this week’s Mixed Media Monday project, I would like to share a bit more about my newest album, the Surprise! Birthday album. I will be teaching a class on how to build and decorate this album at Paper Pals on Saturday, July 13th starting at 9a. The cost of the class is only $75, which is a great deal considering you make this entire book – just chipboard and paper, a little ribbon, buttons, and brads – and go home with a completed album ready for photos!

These pictures aren’t the greatest (it’s not easy to photograph a book standing up!) but I’d like to tell you about some of the great elements inside. The pattern was designed by and purchased from Kathy Orta Files of Paper Phenomenon. I recommend checking her out, she has some brilliant projects!



On the left is a shot of the spine (the back is just the red paper with the fun dots); this book is just over two inches thick and has eight pages. Each page measures 9 in wide and 10 in high, with a large pocket on the right side that can easily hold an 7.75 in x 9.75 in photo mat, journal page, or other ephemera.

In the middle is the first layout, the inside front cover (there’s a cute ribbon on the bottom of that 5x7 mat now) and the first page. It has two 4x5 pockets on the top half, and one long 4x9 pocket on the bottom half, with a large 4x6 mat (the balloons lift up so the photo can be under them, and two smaller mats (about 3x4).



This is the second layout, first two-page. The left side of the page has a 4x6 mat under the “Hip Hip horray!” cutout (as you can see, it folds out), and a smaller mat on the bottom. The right side has a 6x5 pocket opening on the top, and a 5x6 pocket opening to the right, as well as two 2x5 pockets on the left side. You can put a small photo on the “Happy Birthday” cutout, and there’s room for journaling on the three little houses and the red banner.



The third layout has two classic birthday party icons:  a large cake on the left, a wrapped present on the right. The cake has two small mats on the bottom layer; the next layer up (Surprise!) is actually a pocket, with a white 3x4 mat in it. On the opposite page are four 4x5 pockets with mats as well as a gift tag for journaling.



Layout four, with the fourth and final pocket style; on the left are a few fun tags for journaling as well as a four part waterfall to hold photos and more journaling (fun element!). Plus a cute little pile of gifts at the bottom. On the right side are two photo mats (the 3x4 is under “wish big”, which is only adhered at the bottom so you can slip a photo behind it), and the larger one is 4x6. This page has two 4x5 pockets on the top half, and one 5x8 pocket that opens to the right.

The page styles repeat one more time as far as pocket size and placement, so I’ll just briefly describe how I decorated each layout.



This is the fifth layout (using page style one on the right). On the left is a large 6x6 mat with a few journaling spots. The left has three 3x4 mats as well as a circle to journal on (green with a red button to pull it out from under the cutout). Sorry for the not so great photography, it was getting dark outside and I was losing my light!



Layout six repeats page style two. On the left are two 4x6 mats under cutouts(each opening up) ; on the right is a 3x4 mat under a cutout (opens to the left). The little cupcake is popped up on dimensional foam squares, the other three squares are glued down just for funsies [smile].



Layout seven repeating page style three. On the left side a 4x6 mat and a 3x4 mat. Keep it simple; after all, this book is for photos. On the right are some fun banners for journaling as well as a 4x6 cutout that can be covered with a photo, or a you can use the cake for a journal spot.



The last two-page spread repeating page style four. On the left is a 3x4 mat and another 6x6 mat with some more cute balloons (had to hand cut all of those out by the way!). On the right just some fun decorations and a fussy cut photo spot cut out of a 4x6 cutout on the bottom. Again, keep it simple!

                           

This is the back of the eighth page and the inside of the back cover. The last page has two mats 3x4 and one 4x6; the 5x7 mat on the right now has a cute ribbon along the bottom of it. So that’s the album! It was a lot of fun to design the layouts, and if you can’t attend the class I can make you a kit! Or even a whole album if you’d like one. These books are very durable and have 36 pockets (not including all the elements I added) – a great investment!

Spread Your Wings

This week for Mixed Media Monday I want to share this canvas I made for my friend Grethe. Come August, she’s moving about six hours away from here, which has been her home her entire life; although she’ll have her husband and puppy, she will be, for the very first time, too far away from her parents to drive over and visit. She has a close relationship with her mom, not quite as fun as Gilmore Girls but one that I find fascinating nonetheless.

It was this new adventure that inspired the design for her canvas. I wanted her to have something fun and cheerful, but also encouraging and meaningful. I wanted it to be something she could look at when she was homesick and remember that all journeys begin with that first (and sometimes most difficult) step.

Somehow I doubt this small token of my appreciation of her and her friendship the past six months said anything quite so profound; but I really like how it turned out! I used a fun stamp I got at Paper Pals (the girl), cutting out each piece on different colors and patterns. Then I put her on a chipboard butterfly so she’d really be able to spread her wings. The background was just a simple patchwork of colors, and of course a few pieces of washi tape for interest.

I already miss Grethe, I miss our lunches together and having someone to throw things at when I was in a playful mood (I never did throw anything, but it was nice to have the option). And I miss how safe I felt with her, although “safe” isn’t exactly the right word….just, more myself than with most people I guess.

I know that God has a great plan for my friend, and I imagine one day we’ll reconnect and our kids can have a play date. At this rate her kids will probably be old enough to babysit mine [smile]. I’m excited for her new adventure and proud of her for being willing to try – to spread her wings and see how far she’ll fly.

Mixed Media Monday: Canvas Crazy

This week for my Mixed Media Monday post, I would like to share a photo and description of one of the eight canvases I made as end-of-year gifts. Amazingly, I made all eight of them in six days! I’m not sure where my Muse has been for the past several months but welcome back!



The first one I finished was for my new friend Margi (who happens to be my new friend Grethe’s mom!), a 2nd grade teacher at Jefferson. She collects pigs, and I wanted to make something with a pig as a fun way to say thank you for all the many ways she helped me with my transition to half days at a new school in April. She knew a little about me already, and was very understanding, allowing me to hang out in her classroom during my break time. We had some great chats and not only did she become a friend, her classroom became a “safe” place for me, something that is very important and sometimes hard to find.

The idea for this originally involved owls, and I still intend to make one with them,  but one night a few weeks ago when I couldn’t sleep, I realized it would work just as well with pigs! Aside from pigs, she also told me that she really liked black, white, and gray together, with a little red. So here’s what I did:

The canvas is 12 x 12, so I took a 12 x 12 piece of thin chipboard and cut out a 6 x 6 square on one side to use as a guide. I then placed it on the canvas and painted the black square on the top left, the white square (I painted a white canvas with white paint!) on the top right, and the gray square on the bottom left. The striped square on the bottom right is a piece of black, white, and gray patterned paper I had in my collection (which I obviously cut to 6 x 6).

Each square with a round pig is a special combination of each of the three main colors (black, white, and gray). The first pig I made was the bottom left; the colors are a black pig with white embellishment on a gray square. I used an old CD to make the body, a lid for the head, and cut the “B” for his nose and “S” for his tail out of a piece of patterned paper. The legs, ears, and eyes were also cut from patterned paper. The eyes were a bit of a happy accident – the scraps just happened to be black with a sliver of white so I cut circles freehand. The legs, tail, and eyes became a sort of pattern for the other pigs as well.

I used the same process for the top two pigs, the one on the left being a white pig with gray embellishment on a black square, and the one on the right being a gray pig with black embellishment on a white square. (Did you follow the color combos for those? I was very specific in my design).

Finally, for the fourth pig, I wanted him to be different to fit the quote I used that says, “I am who I am. No approval required.” Making him red and square were the obvious differences. I also gave him a straight tail, wings, a mouth, a tie, and a crown, and the eyes are gears and a button. (The tie was another happy accident with my scraps!) It took me a little longer to finish him but I think he turned out just right, and I was happy with the finished piece.

Of course I was hoping Margi would like it, but I never expected the reaction I got the day I gave it to her – she showed it to several other teachers, telling them all about it. That made me happy, not because she was sharing my art, or because I had made something awesome, but because it made her happy!

I would say that was a mission accomplished in more ways than one! I’ll try to write posts about the other seven canvases in the next few weeks so be watching for them. For now I will leave you with a little teaser. (I’m trying a new format for sharing several photos at once so let me know what you think!)

Canvases for Friends VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL