Where I've been lately...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

For those of you who want to know where I've been - At camp!!

Making Embellishments

Okay this was kinda fun. The liberty bell was made by putting metal "paper" over the top of a picture of the liberty bell and then tracking it with a ball point pen that was out of ink for the embossing. I printed the tiny Declaration of Independence onto manilla paper and then distressed it with Tim Holtz Distress Ink. I love when my embellishments are one of a kind.

Patriotic

Today I am working on my 4th of July pictures from this year. I thought I would have something to post-but it will have to wait. So today I am posting a calendar page I made a while back. It was for a calendar swap where everyone was assigned a month and everyone in the group a page for their calendar. It was lots of fun. The eagle is paper pieced and the flag is a toothpick. I used a gold paint pen around the edges of the actual calendar and then used distress ink. I think it has that important document historic feel.

What a Thrill...

I was so stumped when I first decided to scrap these photos. Patterned paper didn't seem right, but the layout needed some sort of texture. So I decided to try and make some letters that looked like the cascading water in the photographs. I started with a sheet of Hambly heavy clear overlays and applied modeling paste to one side with a palette knife. Then I went through the modeling paste over and over again with a toothpick and a straight pin until I got the look I wanted. It took maybe 30 minutes to dry and then I traced the letters and cut them out, making sure that the modeling paste was on the back. I glued them to the layout using Zip Dry paper glue. I got such a thrill with how they turned out.

Scrap Trolley

You start a layout and when you're finished you have big scraps left over from the cardstock and patterned papers you used. How do you store all those wonderful scraps? My solution is what I call a scrap trolley. It's actually a rolling file folder holder. First I placed the hanging folders like I would have if I was using the trolley for it's intended use- then inside of each hanging file I placed an unused page protector with the open end usually used to slide your layout inside facing upward. Inside these page protectors is where I sort by scraps. I have seperate protectors for cardstock and patterned paper and then sort by color. Each protector holds 2 different distinctly contrasting colors.. for example I have black and white cardstock housed together. I've been using this system for years and it's one of the few storage systems that I have never changed. Best of all, the trolley fits right next to me rolled under my desk and when I need a small piece of this or that I just pull it out, find what I need and then roll it away out of sight.

Flock of Donkeys?

If you haven't worked with Flocking yet- I recommend that you try it. I found it to be really fun to work with and really like the finished look and feel.
I bought the fun color variety pack from Doodlebug and can easily seeing myself adding a little flocking to this and a little flocking to that- just as a professional looking finishing touch to things. On this layout I used white flocking as a frame around the largest picture and brown flocking on the word velvet. In case you are wondering, I love watching a neighbor's donkeys they are the funniest things. I journaled about how keep asking for a baby donkey whenever a gift gifting holiday rolls around, but how nobody in my family takes me seriously. Really I just want a baby one- they can even bring it home in my minivan LOL.

Wonder

Wonder where I have been? I've been busy working on and off at Boy Scout Summer Camp. I LOVE that place. I would stay the whole summer if they would let me. This layout is of my oldest son looking at a cool moth in one of the shelters at camp. The title is simply printed out on regular computer paper and then I colored it in using an artist crayon. I also used the crayon to color in the arrows from the Rusty Pickle paper. Sort of half crayon-half pastel these crayons are awesome- because you get to rub and buff and smear until everything looks just the way you want it to- it's perfect in it's imperfection, because all those smudges and lines add an artistic flair to the layout as well as some much needed texture!

Remember Me?

Lately, I have come to realize that I try to do to many things. I'm Mom to 2 boys, hold a number of large positions when it comes to Boy Scouts, am the Design Team Coordinator for Rocky Mountain Hobbies and number of other things. I know I have said it before- but, something has to give... I decided after my hiatus that it isn't going to be this blog. I love blogging. So if any of you had the patience to wait for my return. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!
Here's a layout that I did over the weekend. One of the benefits to living in the country is farm auctions. We love them! Like a treasure hunt for big kids. So much fun. To make the chipboard letters work on the layout I first sanded them to remove the brightness of their patterns, then I applied some Distress Ink in the color Old Photograph. Finally I went around the edges with a black permanent marker in sort of a hit or miss fashion. With so many small pictures I didn't want the title to steal the layouts thunder. Hope everyone is well! More tomorrow.