Up and Down the Rabbit Hole

Hello! Hi! Howareya?

Okay, it's been many moons since I've made a post.  Wanna know how I can tell?  Yes, besides checking the date of my last post.... This here new Blogger setup has my eyes wanting to screw up and around.  I can rub my forehead and ask "WHY?!" or I can get over it.

I really did mean it when I last wrote of how badly I wanted to get back to blogging in general.  I'm just trying to figure out HOW to incorporate it into my everyday life.  It seems I've figured it out a bit today.  We can all thank this site and this site.

Why can we thank Scrapbook.com?  They hosted a kick-keester National Scrapbook Day on May 5th.  I was blessed by a good husband and loving MIL (who nabbed m'boy at the first syllable) so that I could participate in the day's activities.  And, I won a VERY awesome package.  It arrived on my doorstep this past Monday:

If you're a lover of crafty goodness, you probably know exactly how awesome this quick pic is.  In the bottom left is an art journal.  I was geeked because, two night prior to touching all this delight, I went down a rabbit hole of artsy/inky/painty/stencily wonder.  I decided I wanted to try this concept of art journaling.  I'm thinking that book was a sign that surely, I must!

And so I have!

This is one of the blank calendar pages in the album.  Initially, I used it to fill in important doctor's appointments, m'boy's school events, etc.  Then, the month progressed, but my cancer treatments did not.

For anyone who is just joining this blog in progress, here's the breakdown:

April 1, 2011, I learned I had stage four cancer.  Donkey balls, I know.
April 8, 2011, I had a plan of attack -- turned out to be about eight months of wicked chemo.
February 24, 2012, I got a brand new purty scar (named her Irene), as they removed the main tumor.
April 23, 2012, I returned to battle the remaining cancer with recommended radiation and chemo.

See that cute lil playing card with the seven?  That's how many treatments of radiation I've received so far.  I'm supposed to have 28.  Had the door never broken for two days; a flood not have wiped out the roads; and my whites and platelets stayed up, I would have received treatment number...seventeen today. 

*sigh*  I feel frustrated; but my doctor's don't.  That's what this page is mostly about.  With the prompt from A Year in the Life an Art Journal; I am trying to remember to bloom where I am planted.  I may have hit a brick wall in my progress.  I may have been told A LOT lately to Regressa, Ud. Manana (Come Back Tomorrow).  Damnit all if I'm not trying to bloom.  Monday, I helped my mother plant flowers around the house -- though not the ones on the page -- pretty salmon geraniums and impatients that glimmer in the sun.  Since then, I've been trying my hand at art.

And now, it is time to get m'boy from school and see what adventures he'd like to take on today.

As always, if you did, thanks for reading.

How will you bloom today?

Promised Card

Good Sunday Morning!

I kept my promise and snapped a pic of this card. Wanna see it? Cuz, you know, it's like a quarter of an inch below all this typing so there's really no way to avoid it.


This next part is a tiny bit of the reason why I haven't shared or blogged lately; the supply list. To be honest, I feel like I'm trying to be on some design team when I write it all down. What I've made myself realize is the create of "the list" is also like siting one's sources when writing a paper -- a very important thing. With that in mind....

Base: Kraft card, bought at Hobby Lobby
Pretty: Grunge Paper scrap, painted green.
I used a Crafter's Workshop stencil and Glimmer Mist to create the bricks.
More grunge paper and Cricut (Indie) for the skull -- base is Glimmer Mist (dragonfly); top is painted with Crackle Paint. Small turquoise gems are Prima E-line.
The lime flower is actually from the Prima tube -- that huge one with white flowers -- misted with Glimmer Mist/chalkboard. I poked a small Prima (the new Frenchy line) through the center and used the remaining wire to let Prima crystals "drip" from it.
"Beautiful" is an alpha rub on set.

Honestly, the hardest part about making this card was deciding which of my friends would get it... and "get" it. In the past, the hardest part was starting a card for fear that it would turn out "dorky." This was a nice change of pace.

I've got another "tamer" card made up and ready to send to another friend. I'll have to try getting a pic of that before I seal the envelope. I think it's easy to see which style I prefer.

Thanks for stopping by! If you're a card maker, I'd like your input on what you see. I'm really new to it but think it's becoming fun. Advice on enhancing that would be appreciated.

Dude!

Hello! Hello! How does this day find you? I guess it finds me pretty well. Having an extra week off of chemo (this past week) seems to bode well for my desire to make pretty things; pages anyhow. On a whim, I checked out the most recent color combination from The Color Room.


Since I love pairing greens and blues, this was an absolute must for me! I even thought the sketch they provided was rockin'. So, this is what I made:



The photos are some I took with my phone, while waiting for my dad to pick up take out. At first, this boy was not a hat lover. Then he became strongly opposed to sun in his eyes. As you can see, he makes sure this will never happen again. Really, I wanted to use this page as an opportunity to simply tell him that he's a very goofy boy and that I love that about him. I have to say, I had a blast creating this page. It felt really true to me.



The top three gears are Dusty Attic chip board. At first I drenched them in Glimmer Mist (as well as the stamp frame), but it seemed too dark once it dried. To make up for it, I dabbed some Aqua Paint Dabbers on all four items. I think it helped. Evidently, the gears also needed a bit of pretteh-fying, hence the Prima E Line pearls.



The journal spot is half of the backing used for an old (and used) package of Prima flowers.



The skull-and-crossbones is a die cut from the Slice cartridge, Just Chillin'. I sprayed the lime green paper with Glimmer Mist (dragonfly)....then realized I was about to have entirely too much Lime Green Stickles in my stash. So, I covered the skull with a generous dollup of the bottle that had set up residence first. The gear below this is a metal one from Tim Holtz.

The stitching is thanks to a brand new toy for me -- Sew Easy. I'm still not sure if I love it. There seems to be a bit of a learning curve. Originally, I wanted to use lime green floss, but evidently I'm fresh out. The painted tribal looking thing is more of the Aqua Paint dabber.



The ribbon along the bottom was gifted to me from my SIL. The stamped stars below this are thanks to a stamp from Sassafrass Lass. The alphas are Echo Park.



The spinner/arrow is another piece from Tim Holtz and the frog above it (Prima) has been sitting in my stash for a year and a half. I finally tried to use it, but it wants to fall apart if I try to pull it off the film...So, I just cut out the clear film and attached THAT to my frame.

Well, that's pretty much it for today. I'm about to kick off a crazy week -- hopefully another round of chemo...and a meeting with my oncologist to review my progress and where we go from here. I might not be crafting at all in the following week or longer. I gotta say, I've enjoyed feeling this good. I hope to feel it again soon enough.

For the love of paper flowers!

Good Tuesday evening! I found a moment to do a simple blog. Mainly, it's a look at pretty flowers made of fabric and paper, as well as some pretty lace and buttons and sparkles. If you're already a lover of paper flowers, you have likely already seen the January Prima Product Pick:


I loved another blogger -- Micupoftea's -- suggestions for ink colors to use in projects with these beauties. Really, check out her blog and see all sorts of amazing ideas and beautiful thoughts!

Personally, I look at all of these beauties and imagine a small trinket-size version of a Hope Chest for a Spring Bride; maybe with some dew drops created on the petals. They certainly deserve to be seen daily!

OR...

Maybe even have some fun attaching them to some hair clips or combs. I've been on and off of that interest since this past summer -- attempting to create my own hair decor. Slowly, this is what I've come to realize about Prima flowers -- or really any created flower. It's a chance to find and utilize beauty in the least likely of resources. It's something that can be enjoyed for a long time. It's something that can be manipulated to meet one's own desires. There's little you CAN'T do with a paper flower; and I'm having fun trying.

So, what would you do?

Even if you're not sure, you can always click on the Prima link above, share their Product Pick on your own blog; repost THAT link on their blog and have a chance to win those beauties.

Imagine the possibilities.

Tanenbaums and Guest Design Team Reveals

Good Thursday Morning! How's the first week of a new year treating you? Happily, I'm starting to suspect I'm getting back into the swing of things. I even have a crafty project to share (and two more to finish up)! Wanna see it? Of course you do.

This is my first submission as a Guest Designer for Sketches In Thyme. It's based on this sketch from Jana Eubank.


By itself it's a beautiful sketch, isn't it? Here's my take:



Simply put, it's our Christmas tree this year. My son (three-and-a-half) had a lot of fun helping me place the ornaments. For a little while, those were the best three days of his life (because I purposely drag out decorating the tree for that long). The paper is almost entirely Graphic 45; Christmas Past and Renaissance Faire.



The three flowers and bronze flourish are handmade by Stephanie. You can find her Etsy here.

I cut a couple 12.1 strips from one of the G45 papers and played with a couple distressing techniques. I crumpled the strips until they were pliable, then golded and glued them down to look like pleats. I also inked the folds in the pleats and stapled them down.


Sorry you have to tilt to look! At the bottom of my pleated paper, I attached an origami Christmas tree. I saw this tutorial on Practical Scrappers in November and swore I was going to try it. Fun and easy! The paper is from an old-ish pack of K & Company with Stickled red ornaments all over the place.



The title piece is a combination of Technique Tuesday chipboard (died with a mixture of Glimmer Mists and water on wax paper), older K & Company paper, Prima bling and Stickled accents.

And that's all I have for today. Be sure to check out all the amazing pages based on this sketch at Sketches In Thyme! Create one yourself! I look forward to seeing what everyone makes.

Loved the Pretty Pretties So Much I Nearly Forgot the Title

Good Thursday evening! I'd ask if it's the weekend yet, but the next three days are going to be even crazier than the past four! We've been preparing for family to visit AND get my husband back on a good work/study schedule so his Japanese and computer technology classes don't suffer. Oh, and the ever-present job search....and teaching a three year old that there's more to life than getting new toys. Among the few words I wish he hadn't recently learned, "collection" is among them!

I digress. I had a whole 'nother bobble to share with you this evening. Many of you being crafters may already be aware of this, too. It's been posted for a couple days now.

In a word, Prima.

In many more words, I did not know that they have a monthly routine of gathering up a coordinated collection of their stunning flowers and blingy items to share with their fans. For the month of November, they have two ways to enter your name into the hat. One, is to share the word in your own blog.... Ergo, dis'go.

Seriously, whether or not you're crafty... Whether or not you are a fan of flowers that never fade.... Whether or not you have a thing for bling, take a look at this:



Pretty? Drool-y? Lovey? I know I do. If nothing else, I'm loving looking at this.