A turkey day LO

Hey y'all!

How is everyone?  It's the usual wild and crazy shenanigans around here.  I am beginning to think I am the Queen of Plans-Too-Much :P  Before I get into anything I wanted to touch on a topic I mention here occasionally.  Y'all know I have been waging battle against depression.  More specifically getting a handle on NOT taking my meds.  The good news is - I think I might FINALLY be winning - as much as one wins that battle.  The medication seems to have finally left my system and I am stabilizing - which translates into almost no crazy lunatic angry bitch episodes

But it is still tough sometimes to navigate.  I used to read a blog called Hyperbole and a Half.  Along with a butt-load of other people.  She has been waging the same war and has returned after 18 months with a post about it - a follow up to her initial post about it 18 months ago.  Both are raw and so true - you can read them here - Hyperbole and a Half.  Meanwhile I am still going med-free.  Some days are tough but others are really good.  I know that it's possible there could be a better medication choice for me but I am not there yet.  A plus side - i have lost just shy of 20 pounds of the 53 pounds I gained while on the meds!

One last update for ya - our little foster kitten family - The Breads.  When they came to us Biscuit, the mom, was very scared and had a cold.  The kittens were small, especially Baguette, the runt.  We got Biscuit on meds and I was hand feeding the kittens to supplement what they got nursing and everyone started gaining weight.  Biscuit began to relax and was less scared.  BUT saving rescued kittens is not for the sqeamish or faint of heart.  The kittens got sick too, especially Bun, the little boy.  After a grueling routine of administering 4 different meds a total of 7 times a day and stressful eye cleansing routines we decided they were not improving as much as we had hoped and last night we took them to our emergency vet hospital.  Any positive thoughts and good vibes y'all can send to these poor little things is greatly appreciated!  I think my hubby has trouble understanding why I put myself through this BUT (and maybe this relates to my topic above) it is really important to me that i don't just live but that my life has meaning and this is one of the things that makes me feel meaningful.  To me a life that doesn't include doing something for some OTHER life besides your own and your immediate loved ones just isn't a worthy life.  And so our hearts are with our little furry babies and we are hoping they pull through.  And if one or all don't make it we will continue to put our efforts into saving tiny little fuzzy faces when we are blessed with the opportunity to do so.

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One thing that has been changing in my life is my studio focus - I started off as a scrapbooker and I am leaning back towards that.  Cards are great - smaller, easier to whip out and give a bit more instant gratification but I was beginning to feel wasteful since I have enough cards for 5 lifetimes!  Except kid birthday cards which you may see show up in a future post.  Scrapbook pages feel more useful to me.  Of course I still do the mixed media art work too!

Anyway I am slowly catching up and liking my system for doing so which you can read HERE.  This is a thanksgiving LO that haas sat around my studio half finished for ages!

I LOVED this paper pack from Close To My Heart - fall colors but not the typical fall colors.

I liked these pics because it was the first year Pezza really got in there and helped me cook!  Plus I hardly EVER have pics with ME in them!  This photo is not great - the pics are not actually that dark!

That awesome turkey is from Treasure Box Designs and cut using my Black Cat.

As always my sketch came from Page Maps - I couldn't scrap without them!  I am SO out of touch with scrapbooking and scrapbooking blogs though!

Do you have a favorite scrapbooking blog or scrapbooking challenge blog??????  PLEASE share it with me in the comments!  Especially ones using Cricut or other die cutting machines!

Flowers for Teacher Appreciation Week

hey y'all!

I am in recovery mode after an incredibly huge amount of shenanigans and hilarity resulting from a weekend visit from Catherine (AKA Silly Skittles) and Ann along with both of their significant others.

We packed in as much as we could and laughed until we cried - literally tears.  Good for the soul!  The slide show below includes more of our antics...



Yes, we were skipping down the aisles of Target...that's how we ROLL!

We are a perfect little group really - our hubbies get along well too.  I see MANY more gatherings in our long futures - next up, a 5K.  We are still trying to decide between the Warrior Dash and the Run For Your Life Zombie Run....

I have been wanting to do more "Series" type work lately so I decided to start with some flowers I really like creating:

I have posted the ones laying down previously though I can't remember if it was here or on the Luminarte blog...I should check....

I can't find them so maybe not....

ANYWHOO, The larger back two were done for FaveCrafts and you can see the full tutorial HERE.

I created these 2 for Pezza's teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week - the theme was "You help me grow" so I thought they would be perfect - flowers that don't die!

I began with MDF board of course - my favorite surface.  I covered it with a piece of scrapbook paper and then added layers of white Gesso and acrylic paints to soften the patterns on the paper but not completely cover them. 

Then I gave them some sparkle using Luminart Silks - the orange is put in with a plastic pallette knife and then I sponged on the green and pink through a piece of sequin waste to get the dotted patterns.  Next I stamped on the Butterfly from the Dreamy Daisies Stamp It Australia Set from Crafter's Companion.

The flowers are cut from more scrapbook paper using my Cricut.  I inked the edges and then adhered them in place.  For the centers I mixed Gel Medium and Luminarte Primary Elements Artist Pigment Powder.  I piled it on to the flower centers, added the buttons and Pezza sprinkled on the beads.  Doodling around the outer edges and Silks around the sides of the boards finished everything up!

What would YOU embed in the Gel Medium shimmer mixture???

Kitty layout for NSD

Hey Y'all!

We are counting down to my buddies' Catherine and Ann's arrivals tomorrow!   Catherine is like my missing half I didn't even know I was missing!  We have a LOADED schedule for the weekend and I have been so busy this week I can barely see straight!  Trevor has moved in and started a job but his driving or non-driving situation has not been totally resolved yet.  That meant me getting up at 3:45 to drive 1 1/2 hours to bring him to work and get back home PLUS another 1 1/2 hours to go pick him up then running him around to get things for work PLUS several times of sitting in the DMV.  It's. been. fabulous.  BUT he's working, he has finally gotten his license back which means he can drive himself to and from work although that leaves ME stranded without a car.  AND because that isn't enough excitement I also FINALLY got a new momma kitty and 3 itty babies!

We have decided on names.  Momma is Biscuit, The girls are Brioche and Baguette and the little boy is Bun.  They are going to the vet for a check up - Momma feels a little warm and has begun sneezing.  Upper respiratory infection is one of the biggest dangers to foster kittens.  So cross your fingers for them!  I may be trying to do some bottle feedings with the littlest one too - she is seriously behind her brother and sister.

So what do I have for y'all today?  A scrapbook layout!  Yep I had some time to myself last weekend for my birthday and decided to get some scrapbook layouts done.  Imagine my surprise when I signed on to Page Maps - my hands down go to source for sketches - and realized it was National Scrapbooking Day.  Not only that but Page Maps is celebrating their 7th anniversary and has a great sketch contest going on - PERFECT!  The Grand Prize is a $200 gift certificate to A Cherry On Top - I could SO use that!  I have been on a spending ban for quite a long time and have had VERY little new stuff come in to my scrap room over the last couple years.  I thought the sketch was fantastic as always and got this layout done:

When I did thi sLO I didn't know I would be getting my first foster litter on Monday!  Well timed  - my LO focuses on how fabulous hubby is with all of our foster kitties! AND our own kitties!  He doesn't even really LIKE cats!  But they ADORE him!  

We have two couches - I am usually on one DIEING for a cat to come sit with me.  Hubby is on the other SURROUNDED by our cats and any foster cats we have at the time!  When I was a kid twin boys lived down the street.  I realize now that they were not particularly well looked after and they used to call my neighbor's dad "Miss" Woody.  So my poor lost foster kitties always call hubby "Miss Kevin."  I refer to him as Miss Kevin the Cat Whisperer!  In fact I have been unsuccessful at getting the tiny kitten to take a bottle so Kevin is going to try tonight - he iis usually much better at it than I am!

And speaking of not having gotten new scrapping stuff in ages I actually went on ACOT and was looking for pet or cat themed embellishments.  I came across a really cute pack of them and then realized I could make something similar using my Cricut.

So I made this little paw print embellie using the Meow cartridge for the paw and the George cartridge for the layered base.  I popped up the blue layer with foam tape - no need to buy some!  I am going to do some more of this type of thing I think - I have been getting very out of practice!

This is the Page Maps sketch Becky has posted for the contest - you can enter until May 31st!

What are you waiting for!  Head over to Page Maps and enter!

a birthday girl...

Hey!

Our first trip out in the camper for the season was a HUGE success!  We always go somewhere fairly close to home for our first trip out JUST in case of disaster.  This time we went to Luray VA about 1 1/2 hours south of us.  The campground was gorgeous and peaceful.  We spent Saturday hiking to the highest point in Shenendoah National Park, roasted marshmallows and just relaxed!  Below are some of the highlights!

 

I have been running around like a mad woman since we got back though - seems I have three day's worth of stuff jammed into every single day lately!  But I am pausing for a moment to reflect...

About a million years ago blog land was a much much smaller place and somehow I stumbled onto this blog or she stumbled onto mine - I forget which way it happened.  Anyway, one of us suddenly realized we lived right near each other and a fun ride of a friendship began!  Me and Suzanne Dean {Scrapbitz} have had quite our share of adventures and I am happy to be joining in on her birthday blog hop today!  {mine is tomorrow - isn't that funny?!?!}  All of the girls on her Design Team are highlighting her fave color in our projects - Aqua/Teal.  Today I have some balloons to wish her a Happiest of Birthdays!

My background is layers of oil pastel, acrylic paint and turquoise glitter in light and dark shades of aquas.

Next I added a trio of balloons with India Ink and shaded them using my Neocolor crayons.

Of COURSE I had to finish it off with a black accent!  I used Pearl Viva Modeling Cream and a Splash of Color stencil and then I sprinkled liberally with Black ultra fine glitter.  I love the raised lava-like surface it gave me.

Your next stop on the hop is my sweet and talented friend Linda Payne.  If you have stumbled into the hop on accident and want to start at the beginning head over to my wild & wonderful friend Tina G's blog!

Happy Birthday Suzanne!  MWAH!

CMC is turning Three!

Hey y'all!

Well this week has flown by!  I have been very busy!  Tops on my list - Trevor got a job!  Altogether now - *HUGE sigh of relief*  In addition I am having a little girls night at my place and introducing friends to my Origami Owl business.  Then tomorrow- we're off for our first camping trip of the season!

BUT I did take some time in my insane schedule to do something special for my buddy Suzanne {Scrapbitz) to celebrate another birthday for her Color Me Creative classroom site.  We are all doing a blog hop to kick off the Birthday Bash festivities over on the site!  You should have arrived here from Julie's blog but if NOT then hop on over to Suzanne's blog and start from the beginning!

I used this cutie from Saturated Canary on an art journal page in my fve color combo of the moment - Teal and Terra Cotta:

I started by laying out some scrapbook papers and then layering on the paints!  I used both acrylic and Luminarte Silks shimmering acrylics - that's the part that GLOWS!

I finished off the background using some Gel Medium and Lumiarte Primary Elements with a stencil - positively dazzles!

My image is colored with colored pencils!

When you are done with the hop be sure to head to the classroom site and join in the fun birthday festivities Suzanne has planned for everyone!  Games, prizes, you don't want to miss it!

CMC is Three!

Now head over to see what Kim has made for today!

If you leave a comment on each DT member's blog you will be entered to win (1) of TWO crafty online store gift certificates!!!

Dance First

Hey y'all!

We are in pollen hell here in northern VA.  Despite waking up to wet and soggy mornings, by afternoon it is difficult to breathe!  Hubby and I both used to have blue cars but right now we have yellow cars.  :P  It's ridic.  And poor Pezza is an allergic stuffy sniffly disaster!  I am guessing it is all coming from the massive amounts of gorgeous flowering trees we have all over the place so I don't think I would trade it but wow.

I HAVE been getting on the treadmill.  I KNOW.  Shocks me too!  So yesterday I stepped it up a bit.  I like the rolling hills cycle so I put it to go as fast as 4 and as steep as 9.  Thought I was going to die!  OR fly off the back and get sucked underneath.  I don't think that would go as well as it does when it happens to George Jetson.....I set it for 40 minutes because that is how long it takes to watch my DVR'ed soap opera (Y&R junkie yo!)  After 5 minutes I had to slow down to 3 :(  Then it would switch inclines and go back up to 4 and try to kill me again.  In the end I could only do the speed 4 for about 2 minutes at a time before kicking it back down to 3.  Hubby suggested I not overdo it but I figure I don't have a lot of time to get a bit more weight loss in because I have a short attention span :P  I am also a HUGE fan of instant gratification.

I think I would like running outside with better scenery but first I need some sort of gadget to track it because I really NEED to see those numbers.  Calories burned and such.  How else will I know what I accomplished?????  I am also adding more water to my diet:

I wanted to drink the whole pitcher but I think to do that I would have to do NOTHING else in my day but drink water!  I managed half of it.  Plus my 2 cups of green tea - ICED.

Then last night we went out for ice cream.  DOH!!!!!  But I had decided last week I needed a waffle cone and you know what happens when I get something in my head.  I don't even LIKE waffle cones!!!!!  But I think hubby finally got tired of listening to me whine about it so off we went.  That should do me on the waffle cone front for at least another 2 years :P

Hubby is also wanting to get into the habit of a better lifestyle - he was an exercise FREAK when I met him.  I don't know HOW he ended up with my lazy butt!  haha!  Anyway, he suggested we start a blog together about it so we may do that and then I won't bore y'all with it all!  Cuz you're here for the art right???

And luckily I do have some!  Another 2 page journal piece in a circle journal I am participating in.

I swear I can't get enough of this color combo!  It's so in your face too!  I took about 37 zillion photos trying to grab the full effect of the shimmer but no dice.  Basically, anywhere that looks like it is GLOWING - that's shimmer peeps!  I began the page with gel medium and a clock pieces stencil.  Then I sprayed liberally with Luminarte Radiant Rain Shimmering Mists - LOVE that stuff!  I used Ocean Wave, Teal Zircon and Sunburst - YUMMINESS!

It settles nicely around the stenciled images and pools up and looks really cool too - see the number 2?   And the edges of the clock?  I used more bubble wrap and acrylic paint to tone down the brightness just a bit - I have some pale blue and a medium grayed out green.

My last layer was gel medium mixed with Sunburst Primary Elements Powder applied through sequin waste.  Because of the semi-transparency of the medium the layers underneath change the look of the surface.  You can see the pooling shimmery goodness on the left too!  I sure hope the journal owner likes it....

Have you tried any of the Luminarte products???

Nature is partying!

hey y'all!

FIRST - no kittens.  {cries}  No itty fuzzy faces to kiss on.  They all have kitty colds and we did not want to add to the stress by taking them on a long journey so we wait.  I NEED KITTENS! hahhaha!

So my super awesome three muskateer buddies Catherine (Silly Skittles for those who have been reading my blog from day 1) and Ann Shuman are coming to visit in a few weeks! I am beyond excited to see them and so is Pezza! They are both bringing their significant others too! That way Kev doesn't have to wrangle the three of us on his own because we can be a bit much :P Cat has been on a super healthy lose weight get in shape mission since fall and is doing an incredible job. However, she is threatening to take me running with her when she gets here. (hide me) I don't run. In fact if I had to run for my life I would not run I would hide instead because I am pretty sure my heart would explode :P So I am a bit scared of her now. Though she did push Kevin for an allowance to buy me fun tekgear workout clothes - which perked my interest briefly....

In anticipation {and partly because I am ever so slightly competitive} I decided I better get back on the treadmill starting today.  I even ran a on a bit of it.  Well jogged sort of - it was not a speed that would have gotten me away from a knife wielding madman that's for sure.  But it was faster than a walk.  And my heart did not explode.  I MAY have pulled a muscle in my arm holding my boobs still though....yes I was wearing a sports bra.  Or something that resembles one - the opposite of a push bra anyway that's for sure.  We'll see if I can make myself get on that treadmill any more times this week...

So today I will be fitting in another attempt at running while also cleaning my disaster of a house and reading to Pezza's class (I am PETRIFIED that I am going to forget to go so I have been repeating it in my head for two days now...)

I DID make some time to play in the studio too!  One of the reasons my house is such a mess :P

I love how this two page spread turned out!  It started with black gesso'ed edges and a little gel medium and stenciling for a bit of texture.  Then I sponged on some bright (dark) green and orange acrylic paint and next some Mallard Green Luminarte Silks for a touch of sparkle.  it was a little too bright/dark so I toned it down with some swipes of cream colored paint.

I added more layers of paint - pale pink acrylic using bubble wrap, then smaller bubble wrap with Sunflower Luminarte Silks.  I wanted to bring out the stenciled designs a bit more so I went over them lightly with some Green Viva Inka Gold using my fingertip.  Before adhering my computer generated quote I misted it with Luminarte Radiant Rain - Sour Lemon and Sweet Whisper.  After adhering it I decided I needed one more textural element to the pages and mixed up a little Luminarte Primary Elements Powder in Sunburst into some plain gel medium and spread it on through some sequin waste.  I sprinkled on a bit of microbeads before lifting the stencil.

This page was done in the same way at the same time and then I wanted to add some flowers.  Remember the Paint Skins I made?  I decided they would be perfect along with a page from a french book to make the flower layers.  Then I added that same gel medium and Primary Elements mixture to the flower centers and embedded more microbeads along with larger seed beads into the gel centers.

I must say I had SO much fun with this.  As y'all know I have had a bit of trouble getting into my studio and feeling creative.  I decided to just get in there and have fun the way I used to and to STOP over thinking it and second guessing myself and comparing my work to other people's.  Instead of dragging me down it lifted my spirits!  I hope I am back on track!  Now if I can just get this house cleaned up...