Summer of Creative chemistry wk 4

So this week I discovered one of my favorite scrapbooking stores is closing.  Like so many here in the valley I've lost most of the places I like to visit, create at and get inspiration from.  Luckily, with an hour drive, I still have the Occasional Artist  in Glendale .  But it is shocking to me that  ETC, as it is now known, is closing the store. Almost as shocking as when I found out that they had sold Bazzill. This did explain why they had gone from being the best stocked LSS in my area to me finding stuff I needed online. BTW,  so flippin grateful for Bluemoon in Tucson. This makes 4 for me: A Scrappers Dream (it truly was. I made great friends there), Ink it! (Loved being on their DT), Mystic Paper (loved the owners and the amazing classes)and now Scrapbooks,etc. I'm hoping that this encourages us to support our local mom and pop shops. Unfortunately,  my 'local' seems to be moving further away.

So aside from losing a familiar place I managed to get a little creative. Very little, having my left hand useless is driving me crazy. But I managed to do something I constantly put off. And
I do this all the time. Make a lot of things ,try out various techniques and then it all sits in a big pile to be discovered years later, untouched. Then I pull them out because they're pretty or an interesting color combination catches my eye and still do nothing with it. This time I decided I'm actually going to turn them into cards, at least. A few things have inspired other projects. So as I'm going through this weeks tags and papers before they are added to a pile i discover a few obvious cards. For some reason I felt a little masculine, it seems to me, with a lot of my creating this week but that is almost excusable since Father's day was not that long ago. Granted it means absolutely nothing to me but maybe subconsciously the whole spirit of the holiday snuck in. This means those cards will probably be going into a stack that will be made into gifts. I discovered that one of my most loved gifts to people is a stack of cards for just about anything that saves them time and the $5 +.  Whatever happened to the  $1.50 cards? It's a good thing for me. I like making them and I really like making people's lives a little easier.  I just found some of my older stamps, a lot of butterflies. I'm guessing next week will be pretty perky.

Summer of Creative Chemistry wk 3

So this week started out being all about creating for the summer of creative chemistry but ended with me being clumsy. So the projects I began I didn't get to finish so right now I have some really cute tags that are waiting for me too make them into something great. The day I planned on doing that was also the day I was determined to get back on the treadmill and ignore everything else that was going on. Mainly to catch up on my Somerset Studio magazines because that seems to be the only place I can really enjoy them and I'm 6 months behind. So after feeding my kitty cat I decided to head to the gym in my complex and almost made it down the stairs before I missed a step and fell down three concrete stairs. Still determined I took a minute, accepted the situation, brushed  myself off and  tried to stand up realizing my wrist didn't work. So took another approach on actually getting up and figured I'd let it rest and headed to the gym anyway. I get there and my key doesn't work on the gate but I am still determined so I find a maintenance guy get a new key made and go into the gym. On the treadmill I figure I can let the wrist rest because I won't need it to walk and I'll just do everything with my right hand. So after about 2 miles i fell into an  old habit and put both hands on the guardrail and screamed and scared the hell out of everybody that was by the pool and in the gym and anywhere near the office at 6:30 in the morning. Needless to say my wrist was a little worse off than I thought but I at least got two miles in and one magazine read. I came home  to shower and address my wrist  which is not easy to do with one hand  but I managed. I figured I would sit for awhile and ice it then head back into my craft room. That did not happen. It was more pain than I could think through and by 2 a.m. the next morning I realized it was not going to get better and I had possibly done way more damage than I thought at first. So I headed to the emergency room. And I hate hospitals, I hate hospitals with a passion and I usually refuse to go. Luckily, I just banged my back up pretty bad and my wrist was not broken. I did manage to sprain it pretty good with a possible tiny fracture but they didn't want to do an MRI on something that can heal itself and I agreed because I wanted to go home. So now I have a splint on my left arm and a brace on my right and I'm left-handed so that should make this week's creating very interesting.
* Oh for nurses especially those working the ER please look up Sickle Cell. It's scary how many I run across that admit to knowing nothing about it in this day and age.  I was used to it in UT but it still throws me for a loop to hear it in AZ.

Happy crafting
This week's blog was done using voice-text it's not perfect but it worked.

Summer of Creative Chemistry wk 2

I meant to do this yesterday but a sinus infection got the best of me.  Just in time for the beginning of week 3 because with my face swollen on one side I won't be venturing out this week.  Not even for a Sassy's cupcake. (Hoping I can guilt Reneé into going for me)
Anyway this last week of playing with inks and markers has been a blast for me. I pulled out some of my brand new old stamps.  The ones you just have to have and never use. I have a ton.  But this summer I am getting rid of the uninked stamp. If I can't find a reason to make something with it they will be looking for a new home by September.  Let me say, for the record, that there are a few exceptions.  For example: Tim Holtz stamps always a great idea waiting to be executed, women and womens faces are a must because I know that one day one of the females in my world will do or say something that one of these stamps will be able to sum up perfectly in a card or layout. And the final exceptions are word or quote stamps. They're words! For me it's like burning books- It'll never happen unless it's part of a really cool mixed media piece and I've already read it or have it on my Kindle.  Happy Scrapping until next week

Summer refreshing creativity

I don't post much, my crazy tends to be safer left to myself. But Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry classes being reviewed for the summer before the new one is kinda motivational. And since we are still in the midst of an excessive heat warning and I ran out of pain meds days ago reading and creating are the only things I have right now. That and knowing that 113 degrees fill the same as 100 is a comfort.
For the first week of the Summer of Creativity I did a layout.  It was supposed to be a card but didn't make it. The distress colors used were spiced marigold, peeled paint, stormy sky,worn lipstick and wild honey. I used patterned paper so when I spritzed water the pattern pops. I stamped and cut the  flowers used on the banner.
I always keep a few projects around my room  so I'm really looking forward to what next week brings.

Inspired by Tim's 2015 June tag

I haven't blogged in a minute. I know I need to be better about it but I won't lie, there are a few other habits I need to develop and break before my blog hits top priority. In the meantime I think I'm doing alright for now if I'm here showing my latest creation. On to my interpretation of Tim's June tag.
When I  made my tag I didn't have the diy ink pad. I chose my plaid colors from the mini ink pads and swiped them along the stencil. Then followed his instructions.
My mulatte tag is for my daughter who asked me one day if she was a "mulatte" meaning mulatto, I'm positive. And yes, she is a mulatte; has some kick, expensive and keeps me up all night.
The other tag is for a project, a tribute to my mornings. I used a Julie Nutting stamp,Club Scrap stencil,packaging from Basic Grey for the clothes and Prima embellishments.
  If nothing else I will start sharing here. I may save my thoughts for my journal but my projects should be seen by someone other than me,

Happy Summer

Loving Tim Holtz

I can't believe I have never dedicated a whole post to Tim before. He's creative, inspiring, the creator of some of best products on the market, and he's adorable.
  I have been a fan of Ranger since I first started scrapbooking 16 years ago. When Tim joined their team it was the perfect marriage. Not only did he open up and expand the world color and textures to the most basic crafter but the spin he put on vintage art is still thrilling the scrapbooking community to this day.
I could gush endlessly about Tim. But who wants that? So I will keep it short and sweet.  When he began doing the 12 tags of Christmas I was ecstatic. I tried keeping up with  them  and playing with the techniques but never shared my work. When he switched over to the monthly format it made me a little sad because I loved the Christmas theme but I also found the joy of  having a different idea/concept to look forward to every month, like gifts from Tim. It gave me a chance to play around with my materials more and to incorporate the ideas into whatever medium  i happened to be working with at the time instead of attacking the techniques without a plan.   I'm pretty sure this was his plan all along because it also gave me the chance to go out and shop for  products at my local scrapbooking stores as opposed to throwing my hands up because I didn't have what I needed right in front of me. And that was happening a lot when it was the 12 tags of Christmas. If I didn't have the stamps or the embossing powder then I would skip over the tag lying to myself about trying it later but really how often do we go back to something if it's not right in front of us especially when we're in creative mode. So the monthly tags have increased my stash (not something that I really needed) and it also increased my creativity and has allowed me to grow even more smitten with Tim Holtz.
So this last tag in November with the layered leaf was gorgeous but I didn't have the die. I had managed to get the butterfly months earlier from my local Joanns. The butterfly represents change and there were a lot of changes in Nov. for me and my family. The biggest was losing a friend/Sister to cancer. Not that I needed the reminder about how short our time here is or about how precious each moment truly is. But I think the message sometimes gets lost or pushed to the back so I made a little reminder, mainly for my daughter but also for myself- Our choices define US! And thanks to Tims November techniques I made it pretty, thanks Tim

CC3C- altered burlap panel

I meant to do this earlier, better late....
I had so much fun with this challenge. (Sponsored by the Funkie Junkie) I was able to play with some products that have been in my stash for a while.

This is the finished piece. The background done with distress paints, tissue paper and old children's dictionary pages topped with more inks and paints. I added a few rub-ons and a few spritzes of glimmer mist.

Remember the metal eyelet letters from Making Memories. Mixed with distress embossing powders from Tim Holtz for Ranger. 

Flower dies. Way more work than I wanted to do but exactly the look I wanted. I made extras in case I need them later. I like having a back up stash for everything. 

Some Heidi Swapp titles I found in a drawer inked with distress minis. The ruffle behind it is from Tim's new fabrics. 

The Prima bloom stamps are some of my new favorites. Colored with the distress markers. 

I haven't figured out where or to whom this piece is going but I have time before Renee tries to put it on her wall.

Now I'm off to my scrap table while I have ideas brewin. And then a little shopping. BTW The Funkie Junkie has all the new Tim Holtz releases and a cart I'm gonna have to rob a bank to purchase.